Editor’s note: Kelsey Bolar’s video report on high school runner Selina Soule, who was forced to compete with biological males, got a huge response from The Daily Signal’s audience. Don’t forget to write us at letters@dailysignal.com.—Ken McIntyre
Dear Daily Signal: The story of high school athlete Selina Soule shows why women better stop being so scared all the time (“8th Place: A High School Girl’s Life After Transgender Students Join Her Sport”). Fight back. There are way more of us than there are of them.
If all women, or even half, got together and battled this mess on the legal level, it would go down in flames. But so many women are weak, silly, and easily intimidated by mere words.
So what if they call you transphobic? Who cares? As a black woman in America, I’ve been called way worse and none of it bothers me because I am confident in who I am.
If you as a mother are too afraid to fight for your child, then you are a poor parent and don’t need to call yourself anyone’s mother. This is just ridiculous. I have never seen such cowardice.
And all you fathers and brothers sitting on your butts watching and not speaking up are just as guilty. America has become a country of punks.—Deborrah Cooper
***
Kelsey Bolar’s report is outstanding—well written and right on target. We know those on the left are insane, but to allow them to get away with what they are doing is also insane.
Boys shouldn’t be allowed to compete as athletes on the girls team because they are not equal in strength, and common sense should prevail. Transgender athletes should have their own teams; that is the only fair way to do this.
Parents must speak out and remove their daughters from a team that wants to allow trans athletes to compete. Speak up!
Fear of reprisal is foolish. And if enough people take action against this trans nonsense, you will win.—Elna Hughes
Dear Daily Signal: Having read Kelsey Bolar’s story on Selina Soule, I am appalled at the callousness of the left. I personally have no harsh feelings for transgender individuals, if and only if they are truly transgender.
Putting it plainly, they have no right to compete with natural born females because biology doesn’t lie. Not only is it unfair, it also opens the door to a great deal of corruption.
Imagine this: A transgender female wins all sorts of awards and sets records for female athletes. A college board is impressed and awards said student a scholarship with all the benefits to go with it.
That student proceeds to higher education and then suddenly has a change of mind. The athlete decides that, through counseling, feelings, yada yada yada, he is indeed male and won’t proceed to a complete gender change. What then?
The only way for normally oriented athletes to combat this issue is to pass legislation that forbids athletic ability to be used as a benefit toward higher education. No longer would sports be a crutch, and only intelligence shall be considered toward higher ed. After all, it is fair.
Lastly, as part of the transgender issue, I have this morbid fear: How many of the alleged transgender females are budding perverts, seeking an easy way to gain access to the girls’ locker room? It’s a chilling thought, but one that needs to be addressed.—Scott J. Whitney, Colorado Springs, Colo.
***
No child has the right to upset an entire community’s equilibrium in the school system. The parents of transgender athletes are being extremely selfish to think that their kids are entitled to upset a local, regional, or national competition.
The parents of these transgender kids are at fault, and so are the officials of those sports. There is one fair solution: Transgender athletes must compete with their equals—other transgender athletes. If too few exist in one school, the schools must bring enough kids together to make a reasonable competition.
It is time for transgender individuals to take full responsibility for their choices and shoulder the tough realities of those choices. Destroying the status quo of school activities is the last result their choices should entail.
These people need to help each other in their own organizations, not usurp the places of rightful competitors in the schools, as if they have a right to upset everyone else’s lives just for their sexual conveniences.—Richard Canary
If athletes possessing a Y chromosome are allowed to compete in girls events, why have girls events at all? This destroys all pretense of fairness.
Again, girls and women have no real sport. Title IX becomes a farce and its intent is gutted in the name of protecting some seriously ill and disturbed boys who need help, not trophies.
Pros can’t compete as amateurs. Boys, regardless of their self-identification, shouldn’t be able to compete in girls events.—Tony Raskoon
***
There are good reasons why sports have separate categories for male and female participants. Why can’t there be yet another category … for transgender participants?
Let them compete, but let them compete with each other, not with others who are not like them.—David Terry, Salt Lake City
***
Such a development will do a great deal to undo the benefits that Title IX brought to female athletics, yet it is a foreseeable consequence of progressive efforts to erase gender differences across our society.
Over and over again, we have been forced to deal with the unintended consequences of rash actions by those who think they have the lock on wisdom and virtue but cannot see beyond their own reflected image in the faces of their fellow travelers.
Why do we give them such power? Why don’t we work as diligently for the stability of societal institutions as the deluded ones work to tear them down?
If a conflict with these forces is inevitable, and I believe it is, we need to roll up our sleeves and have at it. They’re getting stronger every day, so the battle only will get harder the longer we wait.—Noah D. Cutler
***
Life is hard. Girls, you have to stand up for yourselves or face the consequences. Keep in mind that unless you do, you’re going to lose anyway. So why not do the right thing?—Louis Genevie
***
This is not a complex debate unless you’re a liberal idiot.—Charles Spiegel
***
How about homeschooling your kids? It takes them out of the cesspool. Start your own athletics programs and invite college recruiters to the contests.—Deborah Harvey
***
Thank you for keeping attention on this issue. It’s unbelievable how deranged society has become.
No normal person could be persuaded that this is OK, and I feel for the girls affected. Twenty or fewer years ago, this would have been unthinkable. It is just another obnoxious step along the same-sex marriage continuum.—David Le Sueur
***
Wow. How entitled is this child to think she can talk down on fellow athletes just because they are “biologically males?”
They identify as female and that makes them just as much of a female as any other girl. They have the right to compete in the sport of their desire, and to be allowed to do so with their chosen gender.
Sorry you didn’t take first place, but, these other girls have just as much right to win as you think you do.—Hailey Chandlee
***
Hearing the frustration, pain, and despair in Selina Soule’s voice reminds me of the feelings boys and men have felt their entire lives—as predatory feminists have made our lives a living hell.
The only difference is that nobody cares when it happens to men, especially straight white men.—Bill Sanders
***
It seems as if these high school girls have the logic of when to draw the line in terms of competition and “who is who” competing in what, and they can connect the dots and see the dangers, hazards, and unfairness of the situation.
But what I don’t understand is that in the same breath, they turn around and say, essentially: “But we still stood with, and supported our friends when they chose to come out, still think everyone should be true to themselves, and we were kind and caring toward our transgender friends.”
If you have an issue with which you are frustrated because it’s clearly hurting all your hard work and threatening your chances of higher education, and it affects you so strongly that you are desperate to try to find a way to have your voice heard about it, to then turn around and say, “But I still support them” is to the same effect as shooting yourself in the foot.
I agree that the girls’ concerns are well justified, but you need to learn that you can’t expect to make the changes you seek if you continue to say “I still support this.” That will continue to leave that same door open, unless you draw a complete line between what is right and fair and what is wrong and morally twisted.—Jessica Vanden Bosch
***
Selina Soule would have placed sixth without the two trans athletes, meaning she would have lost regardless. So sick of these white, cis hetero girls who clearly don’t actually train, crying victim when they lose fair and square. Even cis women with naturally higher testosterone levels aren’t safe from this weakness.
And stop spreading misinformation. You cannot claim to be trans whenever you feel like it. Thanks to cis heterosexuals, we have to be diagnosed with gender dysphoria and have to have had it for more than sx months.
Real women want the sexes to compete with each other. Sheltered, spoiled little white girls want to feel like they’ve achieved something without actually having to put any effort into it.—Raven Whitman
***
Kelsey Bolar writes: “While the debate over transgender athletes and fairness is complex … ”
Utter hogwash. It’s abundantly clear that those two born-males identifying as females couldn’t make it in the male world of sports.
So what do they do? They go to an easier contest to win, i.e., compete in the female world of sports. And, what do you know, they take top spots. Amazing how that happened.
On top of that, too many people are intimidated into not objecting; those two born-males identifying as females knew that going in.— Gary Dickson
***
I guess whatever a woman can do a man can do better, even being a woman.—Dennis LeDrew
***
End girls sports and boys sports. Encourage co-ed sports whenever possible.
When not appropriate, have an XX league and an XY league, regardless of gender identity. Those who are neither XX nor XY (yes, they exist) would be placed on the most appropriate team on a case-by-case basis.—Karen Crisalli Winter
***
Just plain stinking wrong. Where did we lose our moral compass?—James Hulse
***
A third category would be the answer. Transgender athletes would be legitimized, as they want to be, but not depriving others.—Dean Agnor
***
This is as much as to tell female athletes, “You’re not good enough because you were born a girl.”—Kathleen Wagner
***
Transgender women are still men and they are losers. They know that the only way they have a chance to win is to compete with girls.—Karen Boldrey Nelson
***
You’re not going to get anything done unless you speak out and speak up regardless of the consequence. Worked for them, did it not?—Kenneth Willis
***
The girls need to put on their big girl panties and stand together against this. It is no different than standing up to a bully; in fact, that is exactly what it is.
Girls athletics was designed to give girls the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, and this takes that away from them.
Either fight to retain women’s teams that compete against other women or make all sports co-ed, because calling something a woman’s sport and letting biological males compete makes the sport co-ed in practice anyway.—Paul Mazan
***
Unfortunately, one day soon, a young woman will be killed or seriously injured by one of these severely confused young men who think they are female.
The male and female bodies are biologically very different and most times the larger, stronger male body can be quite injurious to the female, whether they mean to or not.—Ken O’Connell
***
So, am I to understand that if boys get tired of losing to other boys, they have the option of competing against girls? Well, I guess that’s one way to become a winner.
I thought the saying was, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” When did it change to “if you can’t beat ’em, then go trans?” Absurd!—James Dalian
***
Wait till the competing girls boycott the athletics department as a whole for trans girls being allowed in girls sports. It will happen, but not soon enough.
And it will take these boycotts against athletic departments at the college and high school levels. Once this gets more media attention, it might get the traction needed to make trans girls compete on the boys’ level. Where they should be.
Or there needs to be a handicap put on trans girls to make it fair for biological girls. Maybe in a 1,000-meter dash, biological girls get 200 meters on trans girls. It would be like 1,000 meters for trans girls to 800 meters for biological girls, for example.—Drew Brenneman
***
These men are cheaters. Instead of complaining, women athletes have to sue in the courts to get these frauds removed.
Males and females are completely different physiologically, especially in athletics. Males have no right to compete in female-only events, and need to be legally barred from doing so.—Susan Nunes
***
The problem is if you are not careful with how you do things, you get those born girls who are taking testosterone and you force girls to compete with them.
No surprises when they take first place against girls who aren’t on steroids. But because we were shortsighted and used things like birth certificates as a standard we let these ones through.
No restrictions is absurd. Whatever you want to call these kids, they have demonstrated an unfair advantage. We need commonsense restrictions. If a rare intersex person competes, that person should be competing on a level playing field.
If someone has testosterone, a steroid that encourages muscle growth, as an advantage, they need to be competing against others with the same advantage. If we have to be politically correct, call it a heavyweight league. When it is mostly boys on it, everyone will know what it means.
Whatever we do, we can’t encourage young girls to take steroids to be able to compete.—Jessica Pennell
***
I think this is very, very unfair. If they are going to have transgender athletes, then make another section; so you have male, female, and trans. That way it’s fair. As it is now, females will stop competing, which is so unfair.—Diana Campkin Vickerson
***
The people who are so concerned about this issue know how to vote, so why are those who supported this allowed to remain in the offices that they occupy? Elect folks who are reasonable and responsible for the safety and efficacy of girls sports.—Terry Story
***
The only way to solve this problem is that not one biological female moves off the start line until the man pretending to be a woman leaves the race.—Bob Shoemaker
***
I have a feeling that this girl was not treated very nicely when she went back to school. And if this state or school division has a leftist-established anti-bullying policy, the school will not be able to do anything to protect her.—Charles Kehler
***
To qualify, the rule should be “born a female.”—Jeanne Ballard
***
Add a third gender classification in sports: “Whatever you think you are.” Open to anyone.
You can be disqualified in the Olympics women’s competition for having too high a testosterone level. Maybe that’s going to be necessary in our school sports.—Francisco Machado
***
How on earth is this complicated? For the confused out there, here it is in simplified form: 1) If you are born male, you compete against males. 2) If you are born female, you compete against females. How hard is that to comprehend?—Dennis Campbell
***
Where are the feminists? Why are they not fighting for these girls?—Christina Dorrego
***
It’s not politically correct to say trans girls are not the same as biological girls, but it’s true. Everyone knows that boys and girls are demonstrably different in bone structure, bone density, hormones, and so on.
But because we live in clown world, we allow boys to compete in girls sports, knock them out of top spots, and congratulate ourselves for being so woke and brave for letting them.
What nonsense. Indulging the mentally ill, or even worse, indulging bad actors looking for cheap wins, is ruining girls sports. Where are the feminists, and why are they not fighting this?—Edward Morgan
***
No woman should consent (and no parent should allow their daughter) to enter into competition with men, whether transgender or with any other mental condition.—David L. Miller
This and That
Dear Daily Signal: I read Star Parker’s commentary on Social Security (“Change Social Security to a Program of Ownership”). I don’t disagree; however, the means of managing that approach, Wall Street primarily, is clearly very broken.
It looks a lot more like a casino down there rather than a reasonable place to invest. Then there is the government. In 2000, when the government-sponsored tech bubble burst, I lost 40% of my 401(k). I was 57, not a good time to lose 40%.
My 401(k) recovered by 2008, but then the government-sponsored real estate bubble burst. Again, I lost 40%. I was now 65, really not a good time.
Now I am not a very wise investor, nor are most regular folks. But the 401(k) programs generally help with that, and I still lost 40%, twice.
401(k) programs pushed a lot of money into the Wall Street machine and contributed greatly, I believe, to the current Wild West character of those folks. Adding even more capital to their playground seems a really bad idea.
Before ownership Social Security programs are considered, Wall Street insanity needs to be addressed. Isn’t the 2008 mess a clear example of this? Securitization upon securitization upon securitization … there is nothing real left. Look at how quantitative easing was used by these folks to line their pockets, leaving us regular folks in the dust.
I’m thankful for Star Parker’s efforts, but this idea needs some really careful thought, a lot of government elimination, and the restoration of some kind of sanity to the investment world.—Peter Crowell, Harrisville, N.H.
***
Well, excuse me for violating politically correct norms, but aren’t all of these developments in transgender athletics the direct result of decades of complaints by liberal females to the effect that men and women have the right to be treated equally? That men and women must have equal rights (“234 House Democrats, 2 Republicans Co-Sponsor Bill Forcing Schools to Let Male Athletes Compete on Girls Sports Teams”)?
Hence, the simple solution to these problematic issues is to recognize that women and men are not equal. And in fact, that was the standard recognition in society for thousands of years.
So, what do women want? Equality? Or no equality? It seems the decision is up to the women.—Richard Ho, Taiwan
***
“All human beings, regardless of disease, illness, ailments, and deformities, have the right to life,” Mary Vought writes in her commentary (“Pro-Choice Activist Vows to Abort Child If It Has Cystic Fibrosis. My Child Has That.”)
I could not have said it better. Sovereign personhood is endowed by “their Creator,” not by the state. Therefore, the state may not deny sovereign personhood to any human being.
Denying sovereign personhood is the imposition of atheism by the state, a violation of our First Amendment.—Mary DeVoe
***
A big hello from this 87-year-old in Saskatoon. I’d just like to inform The Daily Signal that from Day One we have prayed for President Donald Trump.
I sure would like to ask you to inform him about this, as I know he will acknowledge and appreciate prayers. I never saw or heard of a president who has accomplished so much with so much opposition against him.
The swamp will take a long time to drain, with so many liberal Democrats against Trump.—Roy Kappel, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada