The discussion of whether only biologically-born girls should participate in elementary and high school female sports is deeply personal for me. When I was growing up, if a girl wanted to get near a high school basketball court, she had to be wearing a cheerleading outfit.
A lot has changed since then.
I was in the 9th grade when Title IX was signed into law. Title IX gives women athletes the right to equal opportunity in sports in educational institutions that receive federal funds, from elementary schools to colleges and universities.
Three years later, my school made girls’ basketball available for the first time. So, as a high school senior I decided to try out, and I made the first ever girls’ basketball team for my school.
I know our basketball skills were pretty awful at that time. I was definitely never going to be confused with Kareem Abdul Jabaar. None of this was surprising as none of us had ever played competitive sports against a different team before. It was a new world.
But that didn’t matter. We had fun. And more importantly, we finally had the chance to play against other girls rather than just sit in the bleachers and watch the boys.
Title IX gave girls the chance to learn. To compete. To have the opportunity to play in a sport that boys had enjoyed for decades.
Title IX was the first step towards leveling the playing field for female athletes. It was the girls and women of my generation and the generations before me who fought to make Title IX happen, and the generations after have fought to maintain and expand those opportunities. And look at basketball today. In my wildest dreams I never would have thought a women’s professional basketball league would exist. What about Caitlyn Clark? She is arguably the most recognizable athlete in the world right now. She certainly is among young girls, the kind of athletic role model many of us never had.
So, when I hear stories about a biologically-born males participating in girls’ sports, I am sad and concerned. Because at the end of the day, a girl suffers from that boy’s participation.
A quick scan of the internet finds plenty of articles that prove girls are being physically injured while competing with biological males in female athletics – from concussions to having teeth knocked out. A study conducted by the United Nations found that female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals worldwide to female identifying men who are competing in their events.
Girls are suffering from these decisions.
It’s not controversial to say that boys and girls are born differently. The easiest way to prove this is by looking at the Minnesota State High School League record books, where you’ll find major differences between top scores in the boys and girls divisions. For example, the boys’ record holder for long jump is roughly five feet more than the girls record holder; there’s a seven second difference in the 400-meter dash; more than an 11-foot difference in the shot put, and a 32 second difference in the swimming 500-yard freestyle.
Recently, a boy won the girls’ state championship for pole vault in Maine. The year before, he competed in the boys’ division and tied for 5th place. Based on the points this athlete earned, the girls’ team he participated with took first place.
So not only did a girl miss out on coming in first place in the pole vault competition, but an entire team of girls also lost the chance to call themselves state champions.
Records aside, let’s also not forget the impact these decisions make before the season begins. There are only so many roster spots on a team. If a boy takes one, a girl is cut from a team she should have made, and maybe she gives up on the sport forever.
That is a travesty.
Legislation is moving forward at the Capitol that would prohibit boys from playing in girls’ sports in Minnesota, and I support it strongly. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that boys who identify as female should not participate in school sports. But there is a reason boys and girls compete in their own sports, and it’s because they are born differently and there are significant physical and biological differences.
When a boy plays a girls’ sport, a girl loses an opportunity to compete and succeed. She suffers. It’s that simple. Title IX exists to give girls a chance. When a boy takes her spot, she’s lost that chance.
For the safety of our female athletes, and to maintain fairness in girls’ sports, Minnesota needs to enact this commonsense proposal.