Aussie Football Offers Moment of Sanity From Transgender Activism
Every so often, there is a moment of sanity that pushes back against transgender activism in the sports world, although the reaction to the sane decision is often anything but sane. And so it happened in Australia, where, "A male-female transgender athlete has been blocked from taking part in next year's Australian Rules Football professional women's league, according to the BBC.
"Callum Mouncey, who calls himself 'Hannah', stands 6ft 2in and weighs 15st 8lb [= 218 lbs.]. And wears size 15 shoes, according to his Twitter account."
Did you get that? A biological male, who identifies as a female, will not be able to play for the female branch of Australian Rules Football. As the league explained, it took into consideration "transgender strength, stamina, physique, along with the specific nature of the AFLW."
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Good decision! After all, this is not rocket science. Football is a dangerous, physical sport (not just the NFL, but Australian Rules Football too). Just look at some of these collisions and hits in the men's league, as well as these hits and fights in the women's league. Is it fair or safe to allow a 218 lb. male to play side by side with these ladies?
Obviously not, and thankfully, this time around, sanity and reality prevailed. But that is not always the case.
In the last few years, a male weightlifter who identifies as a woman has broken records in women's weightlifting, a teenage boy who identifies as a girl has been winning girls' races, and a man who identifies as a woman has mauled female opponents in MMA.
While some have been critical, others have celebrated these accomplishments, which are anything but praiseworthy. What is there to celebrate when a biological male is stronger or faster than a female peer? How is this a breakthrough for equality? To the contrary, it is a breakthrough for inequality, penalizing the other female athletes and making for unfair competitions.
And the more physical the sport, the greater the danger to the female competitors. That's why there was no small outcry when Fallon Fox, a MTF (male-to-female) athlete, began to fight in the very dangerous sport of Mixed Martial Arts.
Yet, despite the obvious threat to the health and safety of the other female competitors, there were those who defended Fox's right to fight, stating, "MMA Fighter Fallon Fox Is a Woman, Get Over It." The medical claim is that "male to female transsexuals have significantly less muscle strength and bone density, and higher fat mass, than males." Consequently, it's not unfair for a MTF athlete to compete with other women.
Why, then, is the aforementioned MTF weightlifter smashing records? And why, then, did a female fighter defeated by Fox say she never encountered such strength in a female before? And what if a 7' 2" NBA player felt that he was really a woman, transitioning to female and wanting to play for the WNBA? Would anyone really care if, after hormone treatments for several years, he no longer had his full male strength? Would it be fair for a 7' 2" biological male to compete with other women?
As always, I'm not attacking these trans-identified athletes as if they were evil people. And God alone knows the ultimate reasons for their gender confusion.
I'm simply saying that: 1) it's not "transphobic" to argue that biological males should not compete against biological females; 2) it's not fair to the female athletes; 3) it's sometimes dangerous to the female athletes; and 4) this is nothing to celebrate.
Not surprisingly, there has been an outcry of protest that Callum Mouncey cannot play football with the ladies. As Bill Muehlenberg notes, "Sadly, the reaction from the loony left was as predictable as it was pathetic. Many are calling this an outrage and are demanding that the decision be overturned."
Specifically, "One opinion piece actually had this headline 'AFL's shameful fear of Hannah.' The commentator wrote: 'Inclusion it seems is not for everyone and frankly that is a disgrace. It is a confusing and sad situation because Mouncey has basic human rights. You have to feel for her. She doesn't want to be the face for transgender people. All she wants to do is play footy.'"
Really now? The football league has a "shameful fear of Hannah"? Perhaps it is a healthy fear of Callum?
On a different but related front, Georgia Love, an Australian celebrity, has spoken out against gender-neutral birth certificates, saying, "I have absolutely no issue with people who become transgender or don't associate with a particular gender as they grow up and become the human adult that they are. But I think on a birth certificate, this is going way too far."
She added, "You are born with genitalia of a female or a male, that's how you're born."
So, even someone like Love who has no problem with an adult "transitioning" has a problem with saying that a child clearly born male or female can somehow be labeled "gender-neutral." Yes, "this is going way too far," just as it's going way too far when a man who identifies as a woman wants to play women's football.
Once again, sanity has prevailed, at least for the moment.
