Trans Athletes Shouldn't Compete
/Remember Lance Armstrong? He’s a world-renowned road racing cyclist who was embroiled in a doping scandal, which led to being stripped of seven Tour de France titles. Imagine if, after the investigation into his drug usage, Armstrong said, “I identified as a winner, so I took drugs to help my body achieve that identity.”
That wouldn’t have worked out well for Armstrong.
Sha’Carri Richardson, one of the United States’ fastest athletes, cannot compete in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics because she tested positive for marijuana. Now, imagine if Richardson said, “Even though I’m depressed from losing my mother, I identified as someone happy. Therefore, I took marijuana to cope.”
Many people would and do find that excuse valid, especially since marijuana is being decriminalized across the US. Regardless, it was against the rules, and Richardson was placed on a 30-day suspension.
Now, let’s consider Laurel Hubbard, who is the first transgender athlete to compete at the Olympics. Hubbard is a biological man who had a lackluster weightlifting career as a man. Hubbard transitioned in 2013, and easily beat women, and demolished their records. Is that because Hubbard unleashed some unlocked potential after transitioning? Is Hubbard an extraordinarily superior athlete now at the age of 43? No. He’s competing with women, who are at an extreme physical disadvantage. So why is Hubbard allowed to compete with women? Well, he identifies as one.
Tracey Lambrechs, the New Zealand weightlifter and Olympian who lost a top record to Hubbard, warned that transgender athletes will eventually “knock women out of sport” unless action is taken.
Why are transwomen allowed to compete with women at all? Sports aren’t purely physical. Your mental focus, drive and refining your skill and body have much to do with it, but much of it is biological. Your genetics will generally determine whether you’re a basketball player or a jockey. If your gender identity can only be determined by how you perceive yourself and how you feel, what does that have to do with your team or your competitors? Trans athletes are asking—even demanding—the rest of the world to bow to the whims of their feelings. If Hubbard was forced to continue competing with men, that shouldn’t make him any less of a woman in his own mind. Granted, it may make him uncomfortable, but why is there no consideration for real women? Why are they collateral damage in his extravagant game of make-believe?
If trans men and women believe having surgery and taking hormones will lead them to a happier life, fine. But they need to understand once that line is crossed, they’re possibly sacrificing their athletic future. Women should not be collateral damage.
Armstrong took drugs so he could win. Hubbard switched genders, and now he’s an Olympian. Hubbard isn’t the only transwoman athlete who switched genders and suddenly saw repeated success. It’s quite an elaborate scam, but it is a scam, nonetheless. I’m not making the case that Hubbard and other trans athletes don’t genuinely have gender dysphoria, but they are willing participants of the scam. In order for it to work, it requires willing participants of their delusion. Well, I refuse. So, why won’t all professional sports stand up for the integrity of their profession?
If they truly love the sport and competition too much to end it all, have them compete with the men. But if that were the case, we’d never hear about the Hubbards of the world. They’d be too far from the finish line to receive adoration or scorn.
It’s difficult to fathom the Olympics believe it’s appropriate to hold Richardson accountable to the marijuana rule while not holding Hubbard accountable to his biology. If the biological differences between men and women hold no value, dissolve the gender barriers, and have everyone compete together.
But they won’t do that because they acknowledge objective truth when it suits them.
