Poll: One in Four Americans Actually Think It's Fair to Make Women Compete Against Transgender Athletes

AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File

The good news: Based on the results of a new Rasmussen Reports survey released on Friday, most Americans think it’s unfair to make women compete against transgender athletes in the Tokyo Olympics. The bad news: 25 percent of Americans think it’s fair to make women compete against transgender athletes in the Tokyo Olympics. 

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The poll results beg the question: What the hell is wrong with 25 percent of Americans?

While the issue has been hotly debated for some time, particularly relative to college sports, it made national headlines in January when one of the first executive orders issued by Emperor Joe Biden on Day One of his occupation of the Oval Office effectively made banning “transgender females” (biological males) from competing in women’s sporting events a federal offense.

As we reported in early May, the transgender athlete controversy again made national headlines after a report that New Zealand transgender female weight lifter Laurel Hubbard, who lived life for 35 years as a man, would likely participate in this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo as a 43-year-old female weightlifter.

And as I reported in late May, Belgian Olympic weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen said enough is enough. Vanbellinghen broke her female teammates’ silence in an interview with Inside the Games, telling ITG that dealing with transgender issues in female sports is “impossible” anyway, but Hubbard’s participation in Tokyo as a “female” weightlifter is “like a bad joke” to female athletes.

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“I understand that for sports authorities nothing is as simple as following your common sense and that there are a lot of impracticalities when studying such a rare phenomenon, but for athletes, the whole thing feels like a bad joke.

“Life-changing opportunities are missed for some athletes — medals and Olympic qualifications — and we are powerless.

“Of course, this debate is taking place in a broader context of discrimination against transgender people, and that is why the question is never free of ideology.

“However, the extreme nature of this particular situation really demonstrates the need to set up a stricter legal framework for transgender inclusion in sports, and especially elite sports.

“Because I do believe that everyone should have access to sports, but not at the expense of others.”

The Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey found that 56 percent of American adults think it’s unfair to make women competed against “transgender athletes. In addition to the 25 percent who think it’s ridiculous, 19 percent “are not sure.”

The survey consisted of just two simple questions:

How closely have you followed recent news reports about transgender athletes in the upcoming Olympic Games?

Is it fair to make women compete against transgender athletes?

(I’m still shaking my head over the 19 percent of respondents who said they were “unsure.” How the hell can you be “unsure” whether or not you think it’s fair for a biological male to beat the hell out of a female in a sporting event? (I’ll answer the question in a bit.)

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Here are several additional key results of the survey.

74% of Republicans believe it is unfair to make women compete against transgender athletes.

40% of Democrats say it is fair for women to compete against transgender athletes, compared to 35% who say it’s not fair.

59% of men say it is unfair to make women compete against transgender athletes.

54% of woman say it’s unfair to make women compete against transgender athletes.

Politically speaking, the results were predictable, with more than twice as many Republicans as Democrats stating the obvious: it’s not only ridiculous but as the Belgian weightlifter said above, “Life-changing opportunities are missed for some athletes — medals and Olympic qualifications — and we are powerless. […]  I do believe that everyone should have access to sports, but not at the expense of others.”

She couldn’t be more right, which takes us back to the last two results, above.

Not only does a higher percentage of men (59 percent) think it’s unfair to force women to compete against biological males, than do women (54 percent), a higher percentage of women also think this is fair:

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And how can that be, you ask? It’s not. They’re lying.

No woman in her right mind — nobody in his or her right mind — rationally believes it’s fair; strictly from the perspective of competitive athletics. So why lie? You already know the answer. Politics, narrative, political expediency. And yes, it really is that simple.

Incidentally, Lauren Hubbard will compete in the super-heavyweight category. The 43-year-old had competed in men’s weightlifting competitions before “transitioning” in 2013.

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