The Department of Justice has sued Maine over the state’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s efforts to ban transgender competitors from women’s athletics. The litigation accuses Maine’s Education Department of violating Title IX prohibition of sex discrimination at educational institutions receiving federal money.
Contrary to the complaints of transgender activists all the way up to Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D), the lawsuit seeks nothing more than to make Maine’s public schools and state colleges maintain a fair competitive environment for female athletes.
Growing up in Texas, I saw firsthand how athletic competition and success can improve the lives of young women. As a youth during the 1980s, I was a dork who never had a chance to step out of the legend of my father, whose former high school classmates told stories of his basketball prowess. No doubt, when his son was born, he foresaw great things.
But God must have had a sense of humor, because he gave him a clumsy and awkward on who didn’t inherit any of his skills or athletic gifts. Instead, by God’s grace, Pop passed along his talents to my big sister Sonya, which worked out for everyone.
I recall my family snatching me up to attend my sister’s softball and basketball games. She was a star and earned an award for her exceptional play. I sat in the pews in a local Baptist church when she and a few other girls received the award meant to encourage young women to engage in sports. I felt privileged and proud to share that moment with her. So did my father.
Sonya continued our father’s athletic greatness and legacy. The strength and determination that drove her to excel on the basketball court are what I still admire most about her as she excels in life.
Girls and young women today deserve the same opportunities my sister had. Their brothers deserve the same joy that I received from watching her succeed.
One of the most quintessential cultural values in American society is equal opportunity. Congress passed Title IX to expand opportunities for women and girls in education, including athletics. In making accommodations to transgender, male athletes identifying as women, we are shortchanging women.
Title IX has helped women excel. Females make up the majority of students in our graduate schools, law schools and medical schools. In character and in mental prowess, any woman is a match for any man. They are making significant strides in the boardroom, Congress and the courtroom.
But men still have an undeniable athletic advantage. Male athletes are stronger and faster than their female counterparts. That is not to say that any man could beat any woman — I would not score a single point against the greatest female tennis champion of all time, Serena Williams. But she acknowledges that she could not compete against her male peers in tennis, telling David Letterman she would lose to British tennis player Andy Murray “in five to six minutes … It is a completely different sport. The men are a lot faster. They serve harder, hit harder. I love to play women’s tennis.”
At the competitive levels of sports like track and swimming, even high school boys routinely post times better than Olympic women’s finalists. In soccer, it is noteworthy that America’s Women’s World Cup Champion team was defeated 5 to 2 by a squad of high school sophomore boys in a 2017 friendly match.
You may also notice that, although there is no rule excluding them, there are no women playing in Major League Baseball, the NFL, or the NBA. There is a reason Candace Parker played in the WNBA instead of competing against LeBron James in the NBA. She needed an athletic venue with her female peers to excel and make a mark in basketball.
Fencer Stephanie Turner recently took a knee in objection before a match against transgender athlete Remond Sullivan at the University of Maryland. Because she refused to compete, officials disqualified Turner from the tournament.
Later, Turner discussed this situation. “When I took the knee, I looked at the ref and I said: I’m sorry, I cannot do this. I am a woman, and this is a man, and this is women’s tournament. And I will not fence this individual,” she said.
Most athletes will not become professionals, but that does not diminish the value of competition. Like my sister, girls and women learn valuable lessons on the field or court. Competition fosters resilience, drive, determination and teamwork. The lucky ones might also earn college scholarships — an increasingly important resource amid escalating higher education costs.
Opportunities to determine your future and fate do not come a dime a dozen. Sports provide an area to level the playing field for girls and women in a world that too often takes them for granted.
Donavan Wilson is a writer based in Washington.
