Remember when Democrats were shrieking like banshees because people came out against biological men competing with females in women’s sports? Well, it appears that after years of calling us “transphobes” because we refused to pretend that men are not physically stronger than women, they are going silent on the matter – for now.
But this does not mean the GOP has let the issue go. Republicans on the campaign trail have made it one of the hot-button issues to remind voters how nutty the left has become, especially as it pertains to gender identity issues. In the GOP’s new “Commitment to America” legislative agenda, the party declared that “only women can compete in women’s sports.”
Both Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker have consistently articulated their stances against men competing in women’s sports. The Republican Governor’s Association is running ads slamming Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in Kansas after she vetoed a measure to prevent men from competing with women.
However, this is putting Democrats in a precarious position as the midterm elections inch ever so closer. Politico noted:
While the GOP digs in over gender identity and sports on the campaign trail, Democrats — desperate to retain control of Congress — are largely silent. As the November election approaches, pressure mounts on the Education Department to propose a rule establishing explicit protections for transgender athletes to play on teams that match their gender identity.
The Education Department has two options: Push out a rule that’s likely to put campaigning Democrats on the defensive, or risk giving a Republican-controlled Congress more time to reverse the rule — and prevent anything “substantially similar.”
Jennifer Braceres, director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, told Politico that “[t]he last thing the Democrats want is to go into the midterms arguing about Lia Thomas.”
“If the administration releases its sports rule before November, then they have to campaign on it,” she added.
The Biden administration has proposed changes to the Title IX rule that would prevent “discrimination” against members of the transgender community. This would mean prohibiting rules disallowing trans athletes from participating in sports that do not correspond to their biological sex. I discussed that particular issue with Nicole Neily, president of Parents Defending Education, on my podcast:
“The proposal drew more than 240,000 comments since it was unveiled in June, and the Biden administration promised a separate rule for sports eligibility,” according to Politico. “And while transgender women have been allowed to compete in women’s categories in the Olympics since 2003 and in the NCAA since 2010, an NPR/Ipsos poll in June found that nearly two-thirds of Americans oppose allowing transgender women and girls to compete on women’s teams.”
Once again, Democrats find themselves on the losing side of an issue that has elicited no small level of emotions. When people saw Lia Thomas handily defeating his female opponents, a backlash ensued. The left was forced to retreat to their usual strategy of calling us names for not pretending the emperor is still clad in the finest of invisible garments.
But just as progressives are putting forth unpopular views on transgenderism, including the notion that it’s a good idea to cut body parts off of children suffering from gender dysphoria, they have remained firmly in the camp that also believes in making believe that biological women are just as physically capable as men. This might not be at the top of voters’ priorities heading into the midterms – but it remains yet another issue that reveals how out of touch the Democratic Party has become with everyday folks. It’s going to cost them big in November.
