In a world in which the progressive left has persuaded a significant chunk of the American public to deny common sense and science in favor of ideology, some of our institutions’ most deeply-held ideas are being thrown by the wayside to promote warped ideas about “inclusivity” and “acceptance.”
This has led to the growing trend of biological males competing in women’s sports – even combat sports and has already resulted in several reports of actual female athletes being injured and cheated out of opportunities after competing with men.
However, one area that has been overlooked is one of the most important values of sportsmanship: Cheating is wrong. Playing fair is right.
Julian Erosa, a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, recently commented on the issue following his victory at UFC Vegas 89. He chimed in on Lia Thomas, a male swimmer who competes with female swimmers because he claims to be transgender.
“I don’t know how you guys feel about this whole situation, but I don’t like cheaters,” he said. “I wanted to call out Lia Thomas. I wanted to encourage him to transition from women’s swimming into women’s MMA, and then I’ll transition to become a woman, and I’m going to beat that dude down.”
The fighter complained that “There’s no common sense anymore” and referenced “guys that are fighting in women’s MMA and knocking them out.”
The reporter delved further into the matter, noting that “When there’s a combat element, it just seems so much worse than, say, swimming, like you said,” and asked if there were any instances in which men competing against women might be acceptable.
Erosa responded:
"I mean, if you went through male puberty, there’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing you can give yourself to shrink your bones down. There’s nothing you can do in that sense. The proof’s in the pudding, right? You have Mr. Thomas, who was whatever he was ranked as a man, and then he’s just beating all the women. It’s obvious. It doesn’t matter how much estrogen you’re taking. I think we’re in, obviously, a gray area, but these gray areas are stupid to me because it’s common sense. I’m not the smartest crayon in the box, but I could tell you, if I don’t know anything about anything, I could still tell you It’s unfair, in my opinion."
He concluded by saying, “It’s so funny to me that women will fight for their own spaces, and then they also fight for trans women to be in those spaces.”
Julian Erosa planned to call out Lia Thomas during his post-win octagon interview at #UFCVegas89.
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 24, 2024
"I don't like cheaters. ... I wanted to encourage him to transition from women's swimming into women's MMA, and then I'll transition into become a woman and beat that dude's ass." pic.twitter.com/2dOVt4BlOO
At the heart of Erosa’s comments and the concerns of many observers is the issue of fairness. Sports, by their very nature, are built on the foundation of fair competition between athletes. It is the reason why performance-enhancing drugs and other unfair tactics are banned. This is why they group fighters by weight class or age groups in combat sports. The notion that any athlete should enjoy an unfair advantage over another is frowned upon and disallowed – except when it comes to people suffering from gender dysphoria and men who just want to beat women at sports.
Progressives treat biological differences between men and women as mere social constructs. But, in reality, they are more than simple concepts that came out of people’s minds. The fact that I even had to type that last sentence while having written tons of articles on the topic shows just how far this agenda has advanced over recent years. Nevertheless, the fact remains: No amount of hormone therapy can make men physically equivalent to women.
What those on the hard left don’t want people to see is that biological males competing with women are cheaters, regardless of how they view their gender. They have the same type of advantages over females as regular athletes who take performance-enhancing drugs do over their competitors.
Yet, the left has insisted that this is one area in which cheating is perfectly acceptable. They might frown on doping or having fighters face opponents in heavier weight classes. But dudes beating up on women? Perfectly fine, and if you don’t agree, you’re a bigot who should be sent to a reeducation camp.
Gender identity is more than just a hot-button issue. It is a vehicle through which the authoritarian left seeks to foist its silly ideas on the rest of us. They have created an environment in which any form of dissent must be silenced, no matter how logical and obvious, by punishing those who dare to speak out.
As society navigates this issue, the Wide World of Sports will continue grappling with whether it should prioritize backward ideology over fairness.
