The reoccurring issue of transgender women competing with cisgender women is more pertinent than ever with House Bill 68 being brought into discussion. The issue goes farther than House Bill 68, touching on the writing in Title IX, an educational amendment brought up to protect women.
The bill examines the practice of keeping cisgender women in their division and those assigned male at birth in theirs. It would stop the inevitable advantages that transgender women have over cisgender women.
No matter what hormones transgender women are taking, there are always uncontrollable biological advantages. Post-pubescent people assigned male at birth have bigger hearts, more lung capacity and larger bone structure, already placing them at a 10%–12% performance advantage in running and swimming and a 20% advantage in jumping events than the cisgender women they are competing against.
However, this has not stopped athletic departments allowing transgender women competing based on their gender identity.
House Bill 68 is not just about transgender women but also transgender men. “House Bill 68 requires schools, colleges, and universities participating in athletic competitions or events to create separate, single-sex sports teams.”
The bill protects the rights of cisgender women athletes that they have worked hard to deserve.
With demands from both parties to protect the rights of cisgender women in sports, many democrats find it convenient to use Title IX to defend inclusion of transgender women into women’s sports, claiming that organizations cannot discriminate against sex.
Title IX was created to stop the discrimination of sex in educational programs and activities. The law was mainly put in place to keep women in sports safe with the same opportunities. Before Title IX, women were limited in sports that they played and had unfair treatment causing Title IX to be put into play with the second wave of feminism in 1972.
The language of this title was changed back in December to not allow transgender women to compete with cisgender women, although it allowed transgender men to compete with either sex.
The issue with this is that it would be allowing those assigned male at birth that are on testosterone to compete with cisgender women. The testosterone hormone occurring in those assigned male at birth gives them a greater bone density, the ability to build muscle, and increases endurance. All variables in the performance level at which they compete at.
Therefore, those assigned male at birth should only be allowed to compete with the cisgender men because it will bring a more equal playing field for them.
House Bill 68 has flaws, one being taking healthcare away from people wanting to get transitioning care. No one should have the government directing or controlling what they can and can’t do with their bodies.
Legislation needs to stop making exceptions for minorities that affect the majority. A majority of women who are competing at the national level have worked hard to earn their spot, but they are being affected by the NCAA’s inability to hurt their feelings.
Editor’s note 2/2/2024: Instances of “biological men/women” changed to “those assigned male/female at birth”
Tristan Nicley • Feb 13, 2024 at 12:18 pm
I understand why people are getting mad but this is so true. Biology is real and and this shouldn’t be hidden.
KB • Feb 7, 2024 at 3:02 pm
It’s sad that we focus on all the wrong things. Why are we passing bills to discriminate against trans people when there are much more serious things that we can be focusing on. It’s just upsetting.
Claire • Feb 9, 2024 at 8:44 am
This is also in the news, this is not just some willy nilly thing. Bill 68 is very real, not only in this article but also in politics. If you look up Bill 68 you will be heavily overwhelmed with the articles and government official pages describing it. Understand what you are saying before you comment 🙂
LEB • Feb 6, 2024 at 10:17 am
This is so bold and true. Women have fought long and hard for our spaces. There are distinct biological differences between men and women. Facts are facts and biology is biology. Hiding behind language does not make it different. This young lady had a great career ahead of her. Keep it up and congratulations on this article.
Sam Bruskotter • Feb 7, 2024 at 8:12 am
Sadly, this article is chock full of misinformation and misrepresentation of the truth. Trans women reach hormone levels equivalent of cis women and are not “on testosterone,” and no matter what, there are limits on hormone levels that apply equally to cis and trans women that have existed for ages. This is a red herring that has no real basis in reality, if this was an actual problem I could see why this was written but there are zero trans women dominating women’s sports.
Sam Bruskotter • Feb 6, 2024 at 9:40 am
I am all for freedom of speech and expressing your views, but this is just misinformed and harmful to have spread around. You mention people “assigned male at birth on testosterone,” which makes me wonder if you have done ANY research on the topic. The majority of trans women take steps to stop testosterone production through medication and surgery, and in most cases obtain hormone levels that cisgender women have. And rules about this arent new at all, many sports organizations already have rules about hormone levels, which have caused controversy because they have barred cis women from competing for their high testosterone. These same rules apply to trans women equally.
The other issue is the blatant fearmongering. This is just not an issue in sports. I could see this becoming a topic of discussion if trans women were going around dominating sports leagues, but it is just not happening. The ONLY reason people are making a whole stink about this is because a political party is using it as a tool to make their voter base mad and ignore the facts of the matter. At this point its just a bunch of hypotheticals. I hope to see better articles published in the talisman in the future.
Claire • Feb 9, 2024 at 8:57 am
90% of her sources are government official pages, plus the proof is in the pudding that trans-women dominate cisgender women in sporting events. This article is not transphobic, it is simply stating science principles. When sports teams came to the light, since the centuries it has been popular, there has been different teams for multiple conditions for a reason. Before commenting on someone’s OPINION maybe look at the case of Lia Thomas, and the other plethora of trans-women in the cisgender women’s sports that are dominating it. <3
N • Feb 12, 2024 at 2:55 pm
Lia Thomas wouldn’t have won over 80% of the time in that final historically. That’s not dominant. Yet another person that doesn’t like -know- swimming commenting on it.
M • Feb 5, 2024 at 5:15 pm
The edits were unnecessary and just prove that this program has an agenda. Good on Ms. Saksa for defying that and speaking the truth, even if her classmates attempt to soften or silence her message.
N • Feb 5, 2024 at 1:24 pm
Going to chime in as a past collegiate swimmer, but if this is in relation to the whole Lia Thomas thing, if you actually look at the results the year that she won the race and began this entire debate, it was an incredibly weak year (in the scope of women’s NCAA swimming). In nearly all of the 10 prior years nobody in that A final would have placed well in something like 8 of the 10 prior A finals in the 500 freestyle. It’s not to say they aren’t all talented, but this only has the opportunity to become a cultural battleground topic due to the fact it was a weak year for the event.
If the race wasn’t the showing of a weak year, this specific instance wouldn’t even be on anybody’s radar. Swimming and the trends in times across races isn’t really a topic nearly anybody actually follows but the amount of attention this has gotten is frankly ridiculous.
Hayden Crawford • Feb 5, 2024 at 10:06 am
I think it’s great that there is a variety of opinions and points of view from the writing staff at Hayes. It is encouraging that someone is willing to speak an opposing opinion from the norm, especially since it is an unpopular one. Free speech is all about having these conversations, and it starts with sharing. Very proud this opinion piece, and happy to have graduated from Hayes!
Sam Bruskotter • Feb 6, 2024 at 9:45 am
As much as I agree that free speech is good, I dont think we can just ignore the facts of the matter. This article is full of blatant misinformation and fearmongering, and on top of that this is a purely hypothetical issue. Frankly trans women are not dominating cis womens sports. Its just really not happening. Id love to see conservative articles published, I am a strong believer in communication and discussion between people who disagree, but this aint it.
Alex • Feb 3, 2024 at 10:24 pm
reason 971638401754183057515830586148309615 im two seconds away from just quitting this place 🙂
Emily • Feb 2, 2024 at 8:21 pm
I wanna thank Talisman for posting something that’s out of their usual scope of writing. It’s refreshing to read something written by a student that is not what Talisman usually covers. Thank you.