In 2021, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed legislation prohibiting transgenders from competing in teams outside their confirmed biological gender. The second Governor in the nation to sign the ban into law, Reeves is fighting to keep his seat through an ad campaign targeting the issue.
His ad, featuring his daughter, states, “She works so hard at her game, early in the morning until late at night. She’s not hoping for a scholarship; she’s earning it, like thousands of girls her age all over America.” The ad goes on to state, “But now, political radicals are trying to ruin women’s sports, letting biological men get the opportunities meant for women. We have to draw the line here in Mississippi.”
With twenty additional states adopting the measure, the issue of transgenders in sports is a hot-button topic, especially with the radical left, who insist that such measures are homophobic and unfair to the trans community.
For most Americans, however, the subject isn’t open for debate. A recent survey found that 69% of respondents oppose allowing student-athletes to compete in sports outside of their assigned gender. This number shows a significant increase from the 62% opposing the practice in 2021. That means that support for transgender athletes playing for the “opposite team” has dropped from 34% to 26%.
The topic is not one of expanding trans rights, which 64% of respondents were in favor of in 2022. But more Americans are pleading for competitive fairness on the field.
And Democrats are beginning to lose the stomach for men playing on women’s teams. In 2021, 55% of surveyed Democrats voiced support for transgender athletes choosing their team based on identity, not biology. In 2023, that number dropped sharply to 47%.
Independents are following suit. In 2021, 33% were for and 63% were against allowing athletes to choose their team, The split is now 28% for and 67% against the practice.
In April, Biden suggested a more moderate approach to the issue. Under the proposed rule, federal funding would be limited to schools that require a biological gender match for team sports and sports where hormones would give a player an unfair competitive advantage. The plan would not require gender considerations in non-physical competitions, such as table tennis.
Democrat support for transgender athletes playing for the team of their choice could be dropping because they are watching their own daughters struggle on the field.
In a Time’s political newsletter published earlier this week, journalist Philip Elliott wrote, “Even Democrats are starting to shed some of their dogma on inclusion here, especially when it’s their daughters’ college prospects on the line.”
Progressives, however, feel that the drop of support is not about fairness but about missing important messaging opportunities to younger voters on the left.
A poll among young adults showed rising support for transgender athletes, up from 41% in 2021 to 35%.
Z Nicolazzo, an associate professor of trans studies in education at the University of Arizona, said that the increasing trend of young adults in supporting “trans acceptance” as they overtake the older generation is “the hope and the goal.”
Nicolazzo blames the drop in support of transgender athletes playing for their preferred gender’s team on Democrats and progressives, who are not creating “a pro-trans narrative.” In a head-scratching statement, she explained, “They have not clearly come out and said we believe in science, and we believe that trans women are women and trans girls are girls,” adding, “Their silence is only aiding and abetting this doubling-down from the conservative movement.”
Supporters of transgender sports say, “Just let them play.” But for female athletes on the field, the idea of losing the chance at scholarships or professional competition to a biological male doesn’t seem fair.
And female athletes are speaking up. Pro-surfer Bethany Hamilton, who famously lost an arm in a shark attack and went on to become a top surfer, cautions against transgender inclusion, warning against “male-bodied dominance” seen in other “women’s sports like running, swimming, and others.”
Transgenders are scoring victories and dominating many sports, including weightlifting, bicycle racing, and swimming. In 2022, biological men won twenty-eight women’s sports titles.
And, according to survey numbers, even Democrats are waking up. Like many Democrat policies, allowing transgenders to compete in women’s sports is a notion best viewed from a distance.
When these policies impact their own lives, however, they are quick to distance themselves from them.
