The House passed a bill last Thursday titled the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which aims to prevent biological males from competing in women’s sports at institutions that receive federal aid.
But State Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) thinks that this would subject gender-confused children to unfair treatment, saying it violates a "student's personal dignity."
The bill Congress passed would require athletes to compete in sports settings that correspond to the gender on their birth certificates, and respective sports leagues would have to view those to make sure athletes are competing in the right divisions.
This is a notion Ivey doesn't like.
H.R. 734 does NOT put children first. Sports should be safe, accessible & fair for everyone. H.R. 734 would mean the forced inspection of student-athletes, which is an egregious violation of a student’s personal dignity. This would impact ALL student-athletes across this nation. https://t.co/EWtX6JChIC
— Rep. Glenn Ivey (@RepGlennIvey) April 20, 2023
Riley Gaines, the former All-American swimmer who had to race against the biologically male Lia Thomas, called out Ivey for using dishonest wordplay that would have people think that transgenders are the real victims whenever biological men compete against women.
This should be bipartisan, yet not democrats in the House voted in favor of HR 734. I'll stand with anyone, regardless of party affiliation, who vows to protect girls and women in sports.
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) April 23, 2023
Gaines also rightfully stated that looking at the birth certificate of a student should not be viewed as coercion, especially considering the negative consequences women would have to endure if this step is not taken, including having to share locker rooms with men. Not only is this a huge invasion of privacy, it is disturbing, awkward, and could even create a dangerous environment that invites sexual assault.
But the consequences could be far more severe physically - as Payton McNabb knows all too well.
Last October, McNabb was playing in a high school volleyball match in North Carolina when she suffered a serious injury while playing in a game against a school with a transgender athlete. McNabb was standing her ground when the transgender player hit a ferocious spike that struck McNabb in the head, giving her a concussion that lasted for several weeks. The spike was much harder than anything a biological woman at that level could have hit, which makes sense since a guy was the one who made the play.
Six months later, McNabb is still suffering from the effects of the injury. She is partly paralyzed on her right side, has vision impairment, and cannot perform as well as she normally does on her school's softball team, all because of an injury that she never should have suffered. McNabb is now speaking out to protect women’s sports and is using her story as a perfect example of why bills like this one are necessary.
Women like Gaines and McNabb have dealt with the consequences of this toxic ideology for long enough. No argument supporting transgenders in women’s sports has any validity, no matter how many people believe them to be true.
