Rantz: WIAA finally does what’s right, proposes league for transgender athletes
Dec 11, 2024, 6:50 AM
High school students participate in Girls Flag Football within Seattle Public Schools. (Photo courtesy of Seattle Public Schools)
(Photo courtesy of Seattle Public Schools)
In a significant move toward restoring fairness in high school athletics, the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) is proposing a separate “open” division for transgender athletes to compete. This initiative aims to address reasonable concerns about competitive equity and safety in girls’ sports. And it could be the end of woke, identity politics that is already responsible for hurting so many young girls and women.
The WIAA’s proposal introduces a third category — alongside traditional boys’ and girls’ divisions — specifically for transgender athletes. This “open” division would allow transgender students to participate in sports without infringing upon the integrity of girls’ athletics. If a biological boy or girl wishes to compete against transgender athletes, they may do so voluntarily. Currently, they have no choice but to lose out on opportunities for scholarships and better stats and compete against biological boys who are naturally athletically superior.
For the last several years, the Radical Left has compromised fairness and safety with current policies allowing biological boys to compete against girls. If you opposed their policies, which effectively amounts to cheating, you were labeled a bigot. But with the election of Donald Trump, more and more Americans are finally objecting to these unreasonable and extremist positions around gender.
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How did we get here?
This proposal emerges amid increasing dissatisfaction with existing policies that allow athletes to compete based on gender identity rather than biological sex. These policies flatly ignore the science showing boys and men are generally more naturally athletic than girls and women.
Washington school districts such as Mead, Eastmont and Lynden have urged the WIAA to reconsider its current stance, citing concerns over safety and fairness for female athletes. The Mead School District passed a resolution explicitly stating that current policies “do not provide a safe environment nor fair opportunities for female athletes in athletic competitions.”
The creation of an open division is a logical step toward preserving the integrity of girls’ sports. Biological differences between males and females can result in significant disparities in athletic performance, making it inherently unfair to essentially force female athletes to compete against biological males. If the WIAA establishes this separate category, the WIAA is finally acknowledging these biological differences. They would be committing itself to maintaining a true level playing field for all athletes.
Moreover, this move supports girls and women by upholding the original intent of Title IX, which was designed to ensure equal opportunities for female athletes. Allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports undermines these hard-fought gains by generations of women, effectively erasing the progress made toward gender equality in athletics.
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There will be loud critics hoping to kill the WIAA proposal for transgender athletes
Critics will inevitably argue that creating a separate division is exclusionary; one won’t have to wait long to hear a lazy “separate but equal” claim. But their tired perspective overlooks a simple fact that their stance is anti-female.
Left-wing activists used to consider themselves feminists, but after adopting identity politics and gender extremism, they turned feminism into a fight to ensure biological males can invade female sports leagues. And while their policies did actual harm to girls, the Radical Left stayed quiet. They considered themselves heroes for their positions, though every serious poll on the topic shows them to be on the fringe.
The open transgender division offers a truly “inclusive” solution that respects the identities of transgender athletes and offering them a way to compete, while also preserving the competitive integrity of boys’ and girls’ sports. It ensures that all students have the opportunity to participate in athletics without compromising the rights of others. This is the very compromise that made sense from the beginning of this debate. But the Radical Left didn’t want a debate; they wanted a diktat.
A giant step in correcting an injustice
Will the WIAA approve the transgender open-league plan? In Washington, this will undoubtedly be seen as controversial by a loud, aggressive group of activists who have been able to bully their policies into existence. That the WIAA even proposed this change is rather significant, but there’s no guarantee it will pass.
That this initiative preserves female sports while also pushing back against the identity politics propagated by the woke Left, which often prioritizes ideological agendas over common sense and fairness, is the cherry on top. By implementing a practical solution that addresses legitimate concerns, the WIAA is finally showing a commitment to reasoned policymaking.
The WIAA proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes is finally a positive development that benefits all students. It protects the rights of female athletes, provides inclusive opportunities for transgender students, and resists the divisive identity politics that have plagued this issue. This move deserves widespread support as a balanced approach. But in deeply blue Washington, will parents and student-athletes be ready to push this through?
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