Who Will Defend Female Athletes?

            Biological males who identify as females are joining women’s athletic teams and winning championships. An example is Lia Thomas, who completed as Will Thomas on University of Pennsylvania collegiate team for three years. However, Will Thomas became “Lia” Thomas this year and has been breaking women’s swim records on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania.

            There is at least one biological male who identifies as a transgender person who opposes biological males playing on women’s teams. Corinna Cohn, 46 years old, testified to Indiana state lawmakers on Monday that “it is unfair to expect girls to cede their hard-won rights.” So, we must ask why Cohn is defending female athletes against a transgender woman stealing their championships. Here is her reasoning. 

I am privileged to be able to live my life peacefully and enjoy a wide range of civil rights as a trans person … trans people enjoy privileges to live as we do, but if we continue to cannibalize women’s rights, the backlash will be severe.

I wish that we could all break out of the tribal mentality…. I feel distressed that organizations like Planned Parenthood have sold out women.

The trans rights movement has captured organizations which had traditionally supported women’s rights… These groups are now effectively men’s rights organizations.

I am an independent and have voted for principled members of each party. I’m here to speak in support of HB 1041, which aims to strengthen the rights for girls and young women competing in sport.

My testimony today is based on my personal opinion as a transsexual. That is, a person who was born male and used pharmaceutical hormones and plastic surgery to feminize my body so that I appear to be a woman. Despite having these procedures, my sex is male and neither science nor medicine can change that.

            Even though Cohn began her transition as a teenager and her “testosterone levels have been in the female range for nearly 30 years,” she underwent male puberty. During male puberty, she gained “physical advantages such as height, bone structure, and increased lung capacity.” At 5’10”, she is in the “99^th percentile for women’s height.” She stated that banning “males from participating in women’s and girls’ sport would be justified on this basis alone.”

            Cohn used biologically male transgender swimmer Lia Thomas as an example of “how these advantages play out in the real world.” She stated that Thomas’ new records are “records women will be unlikely to ever match. If more males like Lia are permitted to compete against women, it will become common to see women marginalized in their own sport category.”

            Recognizing the problems of youth who suffer from gender dysphoria, Cohn encouraged everyone to “have sympathy” for such youth and help them to obtain “appropriate treatment.” However, “it is unfair to expect girls to cede their hard-won rights to make room for male students suffering from gender identity issues.”

            Few people are defending the rights of women and girls to play sports on an even playing field. Cohn is one of the few people who can see the problem from both sides and recognizes that women and girls are being treated unfairly when biological males are allowed to compete in their athletic events.