Protecting Women’s Sports

As your state representative, I will work to assure we protect the integrity of women’s sports. Across the country there are growing examples of transgender athletes participating in women’s sports.  Athletes who were born biological males, competing in sports for females or women.  The most notable example is Lia Thomas, a swimmer for the University of Pennsylvania who has shattered women’s swimming records and won a D1 National Championship while competing against biological females.  This is wrong and must be prevented in our high schools.  When my children competed in soccer, wrestling and other sports in elementary school, these were often co-ed and the kids had a great time.  But as my children got older and toward the age of puberty, sports activities became gender specific due to the biological differences between males and females. To ignore these differences is to ignore biological science. 

When my kids were attending Lansing High School, my daughter was on the Girls Volleyball team that won the 4A State Championship in 2002.  Girls were awarded scholarships to colleges based on the performance of this all girl team.  Biological males did not, nor should they have competed on this great Lansing volleyball team.   My youngest son was a four-time state qualifier in wrestling, a three time medalist, and state champion for Lansing High School.  While there were one or two girls on Lansing’s wrestling team back then, they in no way could compete with the biological male wrestlers on that team.  Today, high schools have girls wrestling teams where they can compete against biological females, and earn wrestling scholarship to colleges and universities.  This is common sense and our legislators must work to protect the integrity of women’s sports.