Obama's 'Letter on Transgender Students' Declares War on Women's Athletics

This week, President Obama put into effect the next phase of his blitzkrieg on women. Sidestepping the Constitution once again, Obama sent every school district in America a smug letter declaring that the disbursement of federal funds will be directly tied to how schools treat transgender individuals. Specifically, Obama has ordered schools to interact with students based solely on the gender that students want to identify as. No exceptions. And, by “no exceptions,” under the section titled “Housing and Overnight Accommodations,” for example, the president has ordered that “school[s] must allow transgender students to access housing consistent with their gender identity.”

Remember when school chaperones spent much time and energy during school trips making sure that guys and girls were kept out of each other’s rooms at night? In his benevolent wisdom, President Obama has solved that problem: teenage boys, simply declare yourselves girls and enjoy your overnight trip to its fullest. (For the record, I am adamantly opposed to any teenage boys doing that.) Going above and beyond, Obama has closed any loopholes that may prevent testosterone-oozing boys from enjoying the privileges afforded to the gender of their choosing.

In the very next section of the letter, “Other Sex-Specific Activities and Rules,” schools are instructed that things like masculinity and femininity do not determine gender and, as such, do not determine whether or not the student is allowed to engage in sex-specific activities. In other words, not only do students get to define what gender they are, they also get to define what that gender identity means for them and what that gender identity looks like. While there are many reasons that this should frighten and anger every woman (and man), the devastating effect that Obama’s directive is going to have on women’s athletics is one of the more obvious.

In early summer of 1972, Title IX became law, and while not directly mentioning women’s athletics, the bill is most often associated with the growth of collegiate women’s sports. In short, and in reference to sports, regulations that followed the passage of the bill ensured that female athletes have access to the same opportunities, facilities, and training as their male counterparts. This, of course, includes scholarships. Now, however, and thanks to Obama, scholarships set aside for female athletes are up for grabs to male athletes who aren’t quite good enough to score scholarships as guys.

Once again, allow me to state for the record that as a forty-year-old man, I am adamantly opposed to this idea. But the eighteen-year-old, utterly selfish and ethically challenged version of me thinks this is a great idea! My eighteen-year-old self recognizes a great opportunity when he sees one, and President Obama has just delivered an extraordinary opportunity to guys who are athletic, but not athletic enough.

According to the new rules of our brave new world, gender identity is fluid. If an individual with boy parts believes himself to be a female, the rest of us are no longer allowed to challenge his confusion. Gender identity is so fluid, in fact, that we are to submit ourselves to the will of the confused individual even if he wants to keep his boy parts so that he can continue to have sex with girls who have girl parts. Got it? Like Bruce Jenner, guys are now free to identify as lesbians with penises.

This means that male high school athletes can now pursue athletic scholarships that used to be reserved for biological women, and they get to do so without actually altering anything about themselves. For them, it’s a win-win: play collegiate-level sports (and potentially go pro in women’s leagues), have college paid for, and still enjoy spring break with their girlfriend.

Here’s the thing: regardless of how loudly leftists whine, gender is not a social construct; there’s a reason that a woman has never played in an NBA game. Even if an NBA player believes himself to be a woman, that doesn’t alter the reality that he is a man with a man’s body. He still has athletic advantages over women. Once puberty has set in, the physical distinctions that give men an athletic advantage over most women are quite large. This fact means that most high school-aged girls and older cannot directly compete at most sports with guys who are their same age. This is one of the reasons why most feminists have historically viewed Title IX as important for female athletes. It levels the playing field in terms of resources. But giving men access to the benefits of Title IX is going to push real women out of collegiate athletics.

With this new directive, President Obama is letting the women of America know that he’s far more concerned about promoting ideology than he is about protecting the opportunities fought for by the women of America. The White House’s “Letter on Transgender Students” creates male privilege while declaring a war on women.