Writing in last Thursday’s Washington Post, Sally Jenkins poses several questions regarding the nature of college athletics, the purpose of the NCAA, and the role of competition in collegiate sports — all in the context of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. But what Jenkins is really doing is ignoring the essential element of sport: competition — specifically, fair competition. Removing fair competition from the debate and making it about “becomingness” obscures the inherent biological advantage of transgender women, because admitting to unfair competition means drawing the conclusion that transgender women are not women, and revealing that the whole progressive argument for gender identity being equal to immutable biological fact is a farce.
Thomas, up until the spring 2019, identified as a man and swam on the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s swimming team and just recently competed in the NCAA women’s swimming championships, where he placed in the prestigious top eight in all three of his individual events, including a first-place finish in the 500-yard freestyle. But Jenkins, and many like her, want to move the transgender-in-sports debate from one about fairness and competition to one about bigotry and inclusiveness. Jenkins uses abstruse concepts about personal growth, esoteric philosophy, and recondite musings to separate competition from sport. Jenkins asks, “What is the real aim and value of NCAA competition?” and insists the goal of athletic competition is not . . . competition. “It’s supposed to be about exploring who you are, whether on the pool deck or starting block or basketball floor. . . .” After all, “everyone is trans” because we are all “on the way to becoming someone profoundly different than we were.” Jenkins adds:
Comments