All 12 women Republican lawmakers in the state Legislature are calling on the head of the Oregon School Activities Association to change its policy allowing transgender girls to compete as females in school sports.
One would expect that given this lede the next paragraph would be about the specific arguments the GOP women are making. But this is the Oregon Capital Chronicle, so any suggestion that runs counter to their favored progressive narrative must be confronted immediately. So here’s what’s next:
The 2016 policy, which allows students to compete in the category of their “consistently asserted gender identity,” aims to be inclusive, according to the association’s handbook.
“Rules such as this one (promote) harmony and fair competition among member schools by maintaining equality of eligibility and (increasing) the number of students who will have an opportunity to participate in interscholastic activities,” the handbook says. It added that the policy promotes “harmony and fair competition among member schools by maintaining equality of eligibility and (increases) the number of students who will have an opportunity to participate in interscholastic activities.”
Competitive sports are not about “maintaining equality of eligibility.” A policy that admits natal, gender dysphoric boys into girls sports does anything but “promote harmony and fair competition.” As we’ve seen nationwide, teams will forfeit and coaches will resign rather than participate in manifestly unfair competition. (And lest anyone think the competition is fair, I can show you video of my 16 year-old daughter’s competitive soccer team getting trounced by a team of 13 year-old boys. Anyone who has any experience whatsoever with youth sports knows that boys have pronounced biological advantages in almost all sports.)
So what argument are the GOP women making? Well, we will never know. Because the Oregon Capital Chronicle only says this:
But the Republican lawmakers disagreed, and wrote to Peter Weber, the executive director of the association, saying that any records or wins by transgender girl athletes were not wins at all.
Further, none of the 12 co-signers were interviewed for the story. The closest we get is a pulled quote from the letter itself (not linked to, of course) that says:
…the 12 lawmakers asked Weber to “provide a solution to the families seeking answers about why the OSAA doesn’t feel girls’ sports should be a safe space for biological females to compete and succeed.”
Fortunately, other news outlets have provided the letter’s text.
I won’t further rehash all the ways in which Oregon’s current high school sports policy is detrimental to girls and women. I will, however, note this as one more example of how the media is untrustworthy and the Oregon Capital Chronicle perhaps more than most.