HB 112 – touted as the Save Women’s Sports Act – is sexist, misogynistic, and transphobic. The argument that boys want to infiltrate female sports to gain an advantage is uninformed and based on sexist assumptions. The bill disregards the anguish and inner turmoil youth experience while working out their gender identities. It wrongly assumes that a child would voluntarily submit themselves to being shunned and disowned by their families and communities for the sake of athletic achievement. Any parent who would allow their child to adopt a gender identity different from what they were assigned at birth, only to gain an advantage in sport, should have their parenting abilities assessed. Further, pre-puberty, the physiological differences between boys and girls are negligible. Thus, there is no competitive advantage or incentive for a cisgender boy to say he is a transgender girl so he can join a female sports team or league. Additionally, puberty blockers prevent the physiological changes that tend to set men and women apart post-puberty. Again, this removes any potential advantage gained by a male falsely claiming to be female on the court or the field. This bill is a prime example of a straw man fallacy. The bill’s sponsor has provided the perfect solution for a problem that does not exist, and in doing so has wasted countless people’s time. We are in the middle of a public health and economic crisis, and the only use I see for this bill is holding on to it for the next time the stores run out of toilet paper.
Bre Koffman
Whitefish