Ruling against Title IX expansion is bad, but not surprising
Right Wing commenters will see this as if they've 'won' something, but it's a false victory designed to create a larger divide between us
In case you missed it, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction on Thursday, and referred to the Biden administration's unilateral Title IX changes as a "threat to democracy."
The ruling blocks implementation of the changes in Montana, along with Louisiana, Mississippi, and Idaho.
What would these changes have done?
The new rules would have expanded the definition of sexual assault and harassment. And colleges could investigate more cases of discrimination, abuse or harassment filed by people on school campuses under the scope of the law. It also would have made it so LGBTQ+ students would have been guaranteed protection under the law if they were discriminated against for their gender identity or sexual orientation.
Pregnant and parenting students who might receive unwanted sexual attention, shame or punishment at schools also would have been granted more protections from sex discrimination in the admissions process and on campus.
My gut reaction to this ruling is wondering how these expansions could ever POSSIBLY be considered a “threat to democracy.” That phrase is overused to the point where everything someone doesn’t like becomes a “threat to democracy” or “woke.”
There’s no coincidence that Swimmer Riley Gaines made a stop on her “Take Back Title IX” tour in Whitefish just days before this ruling was made. Gaines, if you’re unaware, has become a Right-Wing darling for saying that she felt like trans athletes were giving “real women” fewer opportunities to excel in sports because she feels they have an “unfair advantage.”
At this point there’s no point in trying to disprove these statements since the lines have been drawn and there’s no convincing anyone of anything other than what they believe.
Some people agree with Gaines and say “Why should these male athletes get to compete in women’s sports?” Even though one — they’re not men, and two — these people forget that sports have these great things called results where the times are kept, the points are recorded and we can easily determine how often trans athletes have had a “significant” advantage over non-trans athletes.
On top of that, a recent study done by E-Alliance for the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, found that “There is no firm basis available in evidence to indicate that trans women have a consistent and measurable overall performance benefit after 12 months of testosterone suppression.”
But, that doesn’t matter to the people who want to bang this drum because they counter with something along the lines of, “I know better than some scientist. I can see that boy/girl/whatever is stronger and faster than the other weak, frail and god-fearing girls who just want a shot, by gosh, to get a scholarship at a nice school.”
Like I said before, these people cannot be reasoned with using facts or evidence.
So what this does, then, is give them more fuel to use in their opinions. They’re going to take this ruling by Judge Doughty and say “SEE! I told you! We’re under attack and thank GOD for this brave patriot of a judge who has protected us from another PC, Liberal LGBTQDVJSIOJFDIOJSOF attack on our FREEDOM!”
Don’t buy it for a second, though.
Ask yourself how many of these people cared about women’s sports before attacking trans athletes became the “in” thing to do for right-wingers? How many of these people have ever watched any trans athletes compete? Have they ever watched any women’s sports aside from seeing Caitlin Clark on the news once and a while?
I doubt it. Their opinions have been borrowed from the carefully crafted messaging created by the conservative think tanks/news “media” groups to instill more hatred, more division, and more “us vs. them” thinking. That’s ALL this does and this is why this conversation is not worth having with anyone who wants to puff out their chests and act like something positive was done with this ruling.
Don’t take the bait. Don’t engage in the online discourse, and remember that they want you to feel angry, feel like you’re under attack, or feel like you have to defend trans athletes from their nonsense. But, in the end, you really, truly don’t need to do that. It’s never going to have the intended affect you hope it will. Just move on, and let them think they’ve “won” something that has no relevance on them whatsoever.
To people who aren’t obsessed with this idea that women’s sports are being “attacked” by men, this ruling is another reminder that the fight to equality has a long way to go. That people’s opinions are often misled by many things that aren’t factual, nor are they fueled by reason, love, or understanding.
Athletes of all kinds should be able to compete in whichever sports they wish. I don’t care if you’re trans, straight, gay, bi, whatever. If you love a sport, then you should be able to compete and become the best athlete you wish to be.
Just because someone is transitioning and taking testosterone blockers doesn’t make them a better shooter and dribbler, a better hitter, a better runner or swimmer than girls who aren’t. That’s not how sports have ever worked. The idea that it somehow does is lazy thinking and makes me wonder how people can assume something so misguided. The people who say they’re “defending the real girls” are actually assuming that their individual skill, passion and effort don’t matter because it can forever be usurped by someone who is on T-blockers, which again, is overly reductive thinking.
This conversation is one I’m tired of having, if we’re being honest. Anymore, anytime someone wants to confront me with “Yeah, but boys are more athletic…” I just stop, politely tip my cap and move on with my day. I don’t care how you think I’m wrong with this because if there was a compelling argument to be made on your side, I would’ve heard it already.