Last month, the editors of the University of Idaho student paper The Argonaut came out against a bill working its way through the state legislature that would bar transgender women athletes from participating in women’s sporting events.
The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” pertains to high school and college athletics and notes what should be obvious to those who claim to believe in science: that there are “inherent differences between men and women.”
Governor Brad Little signed the bill into law on Monday.
Because transgenders have a higher suicide rate than cisgender folk, the Argonaut editors worry the now-law will lead to an increase in the number of transgender deaths. “For every bill presented in regards to transgender rights,” they write, “suicide rates increase in the transgender community.”
The budding journalists go on to note that “whether or not a team wins or loses, human lives are more important than the biological sex of team members” … the translation being “who cares if biological females can’t compete, think of the possible consequences to their transgender counterparts.”
The Argonaut further compounds its absurdity by complaining the law would not apply to transgender men, making it “unfair” and “ultimately sexist.”
Safety of people is crucial as well as equality for all groups. The bill aims to prohibit special treatment of any group and keep the playing field equal, except it only limits transgender women from competing. The bill would not pertain to transgender men, leaving room to question if this bill is fair […]
We must consider communities that are going to be affected and how they are going to be affected. Idaho citizens should be concerned about the impact of this bill and those with an opinion need to make it heard.
Unfortunately, there’s more bad news for the editors: The US Department of Justice has the same view as Governor Little, having sided with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference. The CIAC (currently) allows transgender women to compete with their biologically female peers.
MORE: Transgender athletes trounce the female competition
MORE: Scrap gender binary in sports to allow transgenders to compete fairly
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