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CU students Carli Tackett and Jimena Martinez enjoy the 2024 Solar Eclipse.
(Photo by Cathryn Jones, Campbellsville Universitys social media manager)
Nature’s gift
April 23, 2024

We cannot transform women’s sports

We+cannot+transform+women%E2%80%99s+sports

Trans women should never be allowed to compete in female sports.

Fallon Fox, a biological male who was the first transgender MMA fighter, fractured the orbital bone in the skull of their opponent, Tamikka Brents, who was a biological female.

I can’t even believe that our world has come to such a debate, but here we are. The fact that people actually believe ‘changing a gender’ makes everything about one’s genetics different blows my mind. I’m six-foot-one, 220 pounds, and if I went out on a whim and decided I wanted to change my gender, I’m still going to be six-one at 220.

The world has to acknowledge that if someone feels like identifying as a different gender, it changes nothing about them except their feelings and what they want to be called. Sure, one could decide to get procedures done, have reconstructive surgery, or take pills to grow facial hair or breasts. At the end of the day, your genetic and skeletal makeup remains the same; your chromosomes will always be either XX, or XY, end of story.

Ray Lewis was an NFL linebacker for the Baltimore Ravens, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018. If Lewis were getting his butt handed to him by other NFL players, and decided he wanted to start identifying as a woman so he could play in the Women’s Professional Football League, he would end up being charged for numerous counts of murder because he would steamroll every woman in the league.

Take Dave Chappelle’s argument he made regarding NBA all-star Lebron James. Chappelle said if James decided he wanted to change his gender and play in the WNBA, he would score “840 points a game.”

I am not saying that men are always going to be better at sports than women. What I am saying is men are naturally stronger than women in general, and that’s a scientific fact.

According to Psychology Today, “Men are physically stronger than women, who have, on average, less total muscle mass, both in absolute terms and relative to total body mass. The greater muscle mass of men is the result of testosterone-induced muscular hypertrophy. Men also have denser, stronger bones, tendons and ligaments.”

Deciding that you want to identify as a different gender based on how you are feeling, changes absolutely nothing about scientific facts. If a man and a woman were placed on an identical training regimen, the man would end up becoming stronger than the woman because of how his body works.

According to the American Journal of Physiology, “Male skeletal muscles are generally faster and have higher maximum power output than female muscles.”

I don’t know what it will take to breach the thick skulls of those who are pushing to allow men to dominate women in their own sports. There is literal scientific proof that men are stronger, faster and more powerful than women on average, yet people want them to be able to basically cheat to win in women’s sports, just so we don’t hurt their feelings and make them feel excluded. At what point do we put our foot down and declare safety more important than feelings?

Barry Bonds, arguably the greatest hitter in all of baseball, was not inducted into the hall of fame for issues regarding steroid usage. He essentially cheated to be stronger and faster than the rest of the competition.

Men changing their gender and playing women’s sports is pretty much the same thing Bonds did. While changing genders to cheat might not be the exact motive, they know they are going to be bigger, faster and stronger, which is why they end up dominating women in their own leagues.

If Bonds were to say it hurts his feelings that he wasn’t the strongest and most dangerous hitter in the game, and that he feels excluded because they don’t accept him identifying as a steroid monster, nobody in the entire world would care. Bonds was called a cheater. Why in God’s name are trans women athletes praised for their courage and bravery, when they’re straight up cheating?

Nobody praised the Houston Astros, Luis Severino, or George Brett when they were caught cheating. The key word is “caught.” The previously mentioned athletes were hiding that they were cheating. Trans women athletes are openly cheating in front of our eyes, yet we continue to praise them, and if you oppose them, you’re automatically labeled as transphobic. Last time I checked, the safety and fairness of biological women competing against biological men is in no way transphobic.

In November of 2022, Payton McNabb of Cherokee County, North Carolina, was competing in a high school women’s volleyball game, when she was struck in the head by a spiked ball from a transgender player on the opposing team. McNabb suffered a concussion and a neck injury, and the Macon County School District voted 5-1 in favor of forcing the trans player’s school to forfeit all their matches.

Possibly the most publicized example is Leah Thomas, a biological male who is competing as a trans athlete in women’s Division I swimming. According to sources, before Thomas made his change, he was the 65th ranked male athlete in the 500-yard freestyle, and was ranked 554th in the men’s 200-yard freestyle. After ‘changing genders,’ she was ranked first in the women’s 500-yard freestyle, and fifth in the women’s 200-yard freestyle. It is extremely important to recognize that Thomas was admitted to the women’s locker room, yet still had all the reproductive organs as a man, but was ‘identifying’ as a woman. Imagine your daughter coming home distressed that there was a 6-foot-4 naked man in their locker room, and nothing was being done about it.

I guess that means tomorrow, if suddenly I felt like I wanted to identify as a woman and compete in women’s arm wrestling, nobody would be able to oppose me, everyone would be forced to accept it and I could walk into their locker room fully naked with no consequences. This is absolutely bananas to me that school and professional sports officials are allowing this to happen. There are many other words I’d rather use, but bananas is as close as I can get to explaining this insanity.

There are numerous incidents involving trans women dominating and injuring biological women in their own sports. How many instances will it take for our country to wake up from this nightmare? Equality and inclusion are important, but this is not equality. It’s cheating, and it must be stopped before it’s too late and a life is potentially lost because of it.

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About the Contributor
Joe McBride
Joe McBride was born and raised in Everett, Washington. This is his fourth year of college, but his first year at Campbellsville University. His prior colleges include Everett Community College and Washington State University Everett.
McBride is a pitcher for the Campbellsville University baseball team, and has been playing baseball since he could swing a bat. It's safe to say baseball is life for McBride, as playing professionally is his main goal in life.
He's majoring in mass communication with an emphasis in journalism, and is minoring in sports management. He hopes to become a sports writer someday. This is his first year reporting for The Campus Times.
Outside of education and athletics, McBride lives on a lake off campus with three teammates and enjoys fishing and hunting small game on their property. His role model is his 82-year-old grandfather who was a renowned sportswriter for 40 years.
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    RobDec 5, 2023 at 5:20 pm

    Well said!!!!

    Reply