To the editor: The effort to keep transgender female athletes out of high school sports is one of the most hateful and vitriolic political initiatives in my lifetime (“Trans athletes face intense efforts to sideline them. These California teens are resisting,” Feb. 22).
There are perhaps a few dozen trans student athletes competing in California — out of more than 800,000 in total. And out of those 800,000 high school athletes, how many are going to care about losing a junior varsity volleyball game a year from now, whether or not a trans player participated?
Have the parents of these student athletes even reflected for a moment on this? Have they questioned why they are not equally as impassioned against transgender boys competing in boys’ sports? Is it because the only thing that might eclipse their transphobia is misogyny?
Of course, that leads me back to that old saying about the intersection of academics and politics: The brutality is so high because the stakes are so low.
Ron Shinkman, Northridge
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To the editor: I don’t have any scientific studies to quote. I just have my own observations to go on. In nursery school, I remember that the average boy was taller, stronger and faster than almost any girl. That continued up to the time of puberty. After puberty, the boys got even bigger, stronger and faster than the girls.
At every stage of life, the girls were biologically different from the boys: generally shorter, slower and not as muscular on average. There is no way to erase the differences and have a fair competition between the sexes. Puberty blockers, testosterone-reducing drugs or surgical transitioning will not fully erase the advantages inherent in an athlete who was born male.
We don’t have 5-year-olds compete against high school students in sports and I don’t need to explain why. Having athletes who were born male compete in girls’ sports is just as unfair. We could easily solve this by making an “open” category for anyone to play in.
James Wilterdink, Chula Vista
