On February 7th, 2024, we celebrate the 38th National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
This day honors the success, triumphs, hardships, and accomplishments of female athletes. As a 12-time NCAA All-American and 5-time SEC Champion at the University of Kentucky, I will forever be proud of my accomplishments - accomplishments that were only attainable as a result of my life-long dedication to my sport, endless hours of hard work and sacrifice, and the creation of a dedicated women's category in sport.
Unfortunately, the women's sporting category is today being eroded by discriminatory policies that allow males who merely say they are women to compete on women's teams and in women's events.
Men are catapulting themselves forward in national rankings, stealing scholarships, titles, roster spots, and opportunities from women who have worked their whole lives for those accomplishments. In my own experience swimming against Lia (formerly Will) Thomas at our NCAA Championships, I can whole-heartedly attest to the blatantly obvious unfair advantages and discrimination we faced as female athletes. Thomas is a 6'4" male who swam for three years on the men's team at University of Pennsylvania before switching to the women's team. Thomas was ranked 462nd nationally (at best) as a male before becoming the fastest "female" in the country and winning a national title just one year later.
As if this didn't make enough of a mockery of women's sports, UPenn and the NCAA went on to nominate Thomas for NCAA Woman of the Year, the most prestigious award for collegiate female athletes.
Ignoring these advantages possessed by males is to undermine the half-century fight to ensure girls and women have the same access and opportunities as males do in sport.
But this is bigger than just missing out in regard to athletic competition. Participation in sports teaches confidence, strength, character, and resiliency that will translate far beyond sports. These are life-long skills that present unique advantages contributing greatly to success within careers and relationships. Ernst and Young found that 94% of women holding senior leadership positions (CEO, CFO, etc.) within a company were involved in sports demonstrating that this participation can propel them to success unrelated to athletics.
Female athletes who speak up about the injustice and competitive disadvantage they are at are quickly labeled as "transphobic", "hateful", and "a bigot," along with some other explicit names I won't mention (trust me, I know). Girls are reluctant to use their voices due to fear of retaliation. They are told they will never get a job or into a graduate program if they speak out. They are told their school has already made their stance for them. They are emotionally blackmailed into thinking that they are wrong for being uncomfortable undressing in front of a naked man. In this instance, the concerned female athletes are the ones referred to counseling at the LGBTQ+ education center on campus so they can learn of the oppression these trans-athletes face. Just ask the female swimmers in the Ivy League.
Let me be clear: Women are not inferior to men. We are strong and incredible within our own physical limitations. But we ARE different in ways that make men advantageous when it relates to something that requires sheer strength and athleticism. I hope we as a society can restore what it means to celebrate the boundless potential of women and their mind-blowing physical ceilings.
Sport is a powerful platform to empower girls and women, but this National Girls and Women in Sports Day, I don't feel empowered.
I feel betrayed, belittled, and excluded from proper recognition.
Let's use this National Girls and Women in Sports Day to celebrate the achievements and hard work on the basis of sex, not gender identity.
- Women deserve to be recognized without facing overt discrimination.
- We deserve equal opportunity.
- We deserve fair competition.
- We shouldn't be denied the right to consent to being exposed to male nudity in the places where we undress.
- We should not give up the awards we have earned simply to validate the feelings and identity of a male.
