Trans athlete bans are still about scoring political points, not fairness

Jessica_Rose · July 05, 2025, 07:03:40 AM

Trans athlete bans are still about scoring political points, not fairness

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/trans-athlete-bans-are-still-about-scoring-political-points-not-fairness/ar-AA1I1e9s?ocid=windirect&cvid=9c9f085b532841fac2bdd34b9e41421d&ei=23

Story by Kevin Blackiston (5 July 2025)

How it started: On Oct. 10, 2024, San Jose State hosted San Diego State in women's volleyball. There were 66 kills recorded. But video of a would-be kill by a San Jose State player turned into all the rage...

The video showed the San Jose State player who was outed as trans smashing a ball that left a San Diego State player rolling to the hardwood floor. The video was circulated as evidence that the San Diego State player had been injured by a blast from an athlete with an unfair advantage.

Truth was, the defending player executed a fantastic dig that eventually won her team the point. She popped up, smiled heartily at her success and was rewarded with high-fives.

But the next week, then-candidate Donald Trump appeared on Fox News in a town hall moderated by Harris Faulkner, who asked Trump what his policy would be for trans athletes. The optics-obsessed Trump referenced the video.

"I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head," Trump said.

"You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don't let it happen."

San Diego State, which won that match, 3-0, dissented: "It has been incorrectly reported that a San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play. We have called for corrections from multiple media outlets."

I mean, you can't swing a hammer in a throwing circle without clocking a trans athlete, right? They're everywhere!

"How many athletes are there in the U.S. in NCAA schools?" Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) asked NCAA President Charlie Baker during a hearing last December on federal sports regulations.

"Five hundred and ten thousand," said Baker, a Republican who was Massachusetts's governor before assuming leadership of the NCAA in 2023.

"How many transgender athletes are you aware of?" Durbin asked.

"Less than 10," Baker said.

How is disallowing those few trans athletes from playing sports protecting cis women athletes?

"Aside from subjecting girls to harassment and invasive testing, these bans do not actually protect women and girls," Shiwali Patel, senior director of safe and inclusive schools at the National Women's Law Center, said Thursday.

"Equal protection and access to education means that all students should be able to play sports and reap the well-documented socio-emotional and educational benefits of playing. Excluding a girl because she is trans is never fair — it's unlawful and undermines the rights of all women and girls."

News:

Trans athlete bans are still about scoring political points, not fairness

Jessica_Rose