I wish Democrats would find the guts to say biology matters, but what biology says is, the "masculine" athletic advantage depends on the last two years of blood testosterone levels and a 13yo benefitting from blockers & HRT never had any such advantage. Let the girl then play on the girl's team.
Politicians like Iowa’s Rob Sands and others across the country continue to ignore what should be obvious: transgender boys and girls deserve the same opportunity as every other child to participate in the sports they choose.
These politicians are not listening to the people they want to/or represent. They are turning transgender children into political targets instead of focusing on the real challenges facing families.
The message from elections in 2025 and primaries this year should be clear: voters are paying attention, and politicians who continue to push discriminatory policies cannot assume the public will stand behind them.
Politicians are supposed to represent ALL people—not just the loudest bigots in their party. Their responsibility is to protect the rights, dignity, and opportunities of every child, including transgender youth.
It is time to stop using our children as political punching bags. We need elected officials who will stand up for equality, listen to their constituents, and govern for everyone.
We must hold these politicians accountable at the ballot box. Vote for leaders who believe every child deserves dignity, fairness, and the freedom to be themselves.
Notice how when he says he supports civil rights and non discrimination in employment & housing, and when he says he'll veto any "culture war" bill that makes it to his desk, he is using language that allows him to sidestep the question of bathroom access for trans women, trans men, and non-binary people. He knows what he's doing. He wanted to get that applause and say something that sounded vaguely supportive of trans people's rights while guarenteeing us nothing. It's already illegal to discriminate against trans people in employment & housing due to Bostock, so he is saying absolutely nothing. What a cowardly loser. I want every Democrat politician, especially ones like Rob Sand who talk about "boys" & "men" & "biological males" shouldn't be allowed to play on girls' women's supports teams for "safety" & "fairness" and to "protect women & girls" to be explicitly asked if they support the right of trans women to use women's restrooms, trans men to use men's restrooms, & non-binary people to use the restroom they feel most comfortable & safe using. If they don't support us explicitly on other substantive matters of our rights, healthcare, & ability to use the bathroom, then I cannot accept these losers acting like their fricking sports scientists who are just really passionate about "fairness" in girls and womens sports. like just say you hate us at this point...
Maybe Democrats should position themselves as the party of FREEDOM - freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, freedom to hold athletic competitions without interference and micromanagement by the government, freedom to run your state's elections without interference from the federal government, freedom to read the books you want, freedom to be you. You know... like the core principle that binds America together.
Stop calling trans women “biological male”. I can potentially agree with conditional sports bans based on which puberty someone went through, but not how one is born. HRT changes sex. Surgeries change sex. Nothing is immutable. These dems must stop buying fundamentalist ideologies and use actual science to decide the rule for each sport.
Thank you, s. baum, for this timely article. I have been making small donations to Democratic challengers across the country and was checking out Rob Sand, but thanks to your warning, he is off my list. Same with Amy Acton, Josh Turek, Shomari Figures and (a shame) Mary Peltola. I don’t get why Dem candidates are jumping on this anti-trans-athlete-rights bandwagon. It’s unpopular with voters and can be a campaign-killer. Alex Vindman learned the hard way in his primary.
So did Seth Moulton- but I fear it's going to take a fair few more of these idiot Quislings faceplanting before the cancerous Democratic political analyst class stops advocating for this losing strategy.
...and this absolute numpty 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 couldn't read the room.
It doesn't get much more obvious than this, does it? Person asks for candidate to clarify that they support trans rights; crowd applauds enthusiastically. Candidate waffles and regurgitates right wing bullshit; crowd goes silent. Candidate hedges by offering a weak promise to not be as bad as Republicans. Crowd responds with weak applause.
Democrats, this is why you keep losing elections. Your electorate is all but screaming in your ears that they want you to pivot left... then you morons pivot right instead and wonder why voters didn't show up for you. You. Are. Not. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. Clean the wax out of your ears, catch a clue, and stop trying to be Republican Lite. 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 wants that. Not leftists, not centrists, and 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 not fascists.
*𝘴𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘨𝘩...*
Looks like Iowa's Governorship won't be flipping blue 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 year.
Thank You, Baum. 1) At least we know where they stand Before we vote, which helps. 2) There is a lack of discussion about the equalizing effects of hormone blockers and HRT, where sports are concerned, and now is a good time to be having it on national t.v..3) More needs to be made of those who show the courage to speak the truth to power in front of a crowd, as this person did in speaking up for their Trans neighbor. Perhaps a yearly Day of Honoring. This particular story would even make a very good children's book. We need different role models.
I think all politicians, republicans or democrats, should entirely recuse themselves from the whole trans kids in sports question because they're completely unqualified to make these decisions. That should also include about 335,000,000 Americans who have no understanding of what fairness dictates in these decisions. Only qualified folks with medical and athletic training should be involved with deciding what's fair, on a case by case basis. The world's rapidly racing toward disaster on many fronts; time for attention to the big questions we should all be focusing on.
I like the majority of what you’re saying, but what do you mean by a case by case basis? Some trans girls will get to play on girls teams and some won’t? Some trans girls will be outed at their new school because they are considered too good at their sport? While I agree that politicians and the general population should have little say, don’t we want a federal rule that makes it illegal to discriminate against people according to gender?
I wasn’t talking about trans girls skill level. I meant their degree of transition, and that should be evaluated by those who understand the issue. Elementary age students should merely be able to play as the gender they identify with. Once they’re in higher grades, there should be some reasonable protocols worked out by those who are qualified. Yes, gender should definitely be included in the basic rights that federal laws guarantee for all.
I wish Democrats would find the guts to say biology matters, but what biology says is, the "masculine" athletic advantage depends on the last two years of blood testosterone levels and a 13yo benefitting from blockers & HRT never had any such advantage. Let the girl then play on the girl's team.
Thank you, Baum.
Politicians like Iowa’s Rob Sands and others across the country continue to ignore what should be obvious: transgender boys and girls deserve the same opportunity as every other child to participate in the sports they choose.
These politicians are not listening to the people they want to/or represent. They are turning transgender children into political targets instead of focusing on the real challenges facing families.
The message from elections in 2025 and primaries this year should be clear: voters are paying attention, and politicians who continue to push discriminatory policies cannot assume the public will stand behind them.
Politicians are supposed to represent ALL people—not just the loudest bigots in their party. Their responsibility is to protect the rights, dignity, and opportunities of every child, including transgender youth.
It is time to stop using our children as political punching bags. We need elected officials who will stand up for equality, listen to their constituents, and govern for everyone.
We must hold these politicians accountable at the ballot box. Vote for leaders who believe every child deserves dignity, fairness, and the freedom to be themselves.
Notice how when he says he supports civil rights and non discrimination in employment & housing, and when he says he'll veto any "culture war" bill that makes it to his desk, he is using language that allows him to sidestep the question of bathroom access for trans women, trans men, and non-binary people. He knows what he's doing. He wanted to get that applause and say something that sounded vaguely supportive of trans people's rights while guarenteeing us nothing. It's already illegal to discriminate against trans people in employment & housing due to Bostock, so he is saying absolutely nothing. What a cowardly loser. I want every Democrat politician, especially ones like Rob Sand who talk about "boys" & "men" & "biological males" shouldn't be allowed to play on girls' women's supports teams for "safety" & "fairness" and to "protect women & girls" to be explicitly asked if they support the right of trans women to use women's restrooms, trans men to use men's restrooms, & non-binary people to use the restroom they feel most comfortable & safe using. If they don't support us explicitly on other substantive matters of our rights, healthcare, & ability to use the bathroom, then I cannot accept these losers acting like their fricking sports scientists who are just really passionate about "fairness" in girls and womens sports. like just say you hate us at this point...
The person who shouted "Coward" is a hero.
Fuck transphobes. And fuck democratic cowards.
What a two-faced chickenshit.
Maybe Democrats should position themselves as the party of FREEDOM - freedom to make decisions about their own bodies, freedom to hold athletic competitions without interference and micromanagement by the government, freedom to run your state's elections without interference from the federal government, freedom to read the books you want, freedom to be you. You know... like the core principle that binds America together.
Stop calling trans women “biological male”. I can potentially agree with conditional sports bans based on which puberty someone went through, but not how one is born. HRT changes sex. Surgeries change sex. Nothing is immutable. These dems must stop buying fundamentalist ideologies and use actual science to decide the rule for each sport.
Thank you, s. baum, for this timely article. I have been making small donations to Democratic challengers across the country and was checking out Rob Sand, but thanks to your warning, he is off my list. Same with Amy Acton, Josh Turek, Shomari Figures and (a shame) Mary Peltola. I don’t get why Dem candidates are jumping on this anti-trans-athlete-rights bandwagon. It’s unpopular with voters and can be a campaign-killer. Alex Vindman learned the hard way in his primary.
So did Seth Moulton- but I fear it's going to take a fair few more of these idiot Quislings faceplanting before the cancerous Democratic political analyst class stops advocating for this losing strategy.
"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦."
...and this absolute numpty 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 couldn't read the room.
It doesn't get much more obvious than this, does it? Person asks for candidate to clarify that they support trans rights; crowd applauds enthusiastically. Candidate waffles and regurgitates right wing bullshit; crowd goes silent. Candidate hedges by offering a weak promise to not be as bad as Republicans. Crowd responds with weak applause.
Democrats, this is why you keep losing elections. Your electorate is all but screaming in your ears that they want you to pivot left... then you morons pivot right instead and wonder why voters didn't show up for you. You. Are. Not. 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨. Clean the wax out of your ears, catch a clue, and stop trying to be Republican Lite. 𝘕𝘰𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 wants that. Not leftists, not centrists, and 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 not fascists.
*𝘴𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘨𝘩...*
Looks like Iowa's Governorship won't be flipping blue 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 year.
Thank You, Baum. 1) At least we know where they stand Before we vote, which helps. 2) There is a lack of discussion about the equalizing effects of hormone blockers and HRT, where sports are concerned, and now is a good time to be having it on national t.v..3) More needs to be made of those who show the courage to speak the truth to power in front of a crowd, as this person did in speaking up for their Trans neighbor. Perhaps a yearly Day of Honoring. This particular story would even make a very good children's book. We need different role models.
I think all politicians, republicans or democrats, should entirely recuse themselves from the whole trans kids in sports question because they're completely unqualified to make these decisions. That should also include about 335,000,000 Americans who have no understanding of what fairness dictates in these decisions. Only qualified folks with medical and athletic training should be involved with deciding what's fair, on a case by case basis. The world's rapidly racing toward disaster on many fronts; time for attention to the big questions we should all be focusing on.
I like the majority of what you’re saying, but what do you mean by a case by case basis? Some trans girls will get to play on girls teams and some won’t? Some trans girls will be outed at their new school because they are considered too good at their sport? While I agree that politicians and the general population should have little say, don’t we want a federal rule that makes it illegal to discriminate against people according to gender?
I wasn’t talking about trans girls skill level. I meant their degree of transition, and that should be evaluated by those who understand the issue. Elementary age students should merely be able to play as the gender they identify with. Once they’re in higher grades, there should be some reasonable protocols worked out by those who are qualified. Yes, gender should definitely be included in the basic rights that federal laws guarantee for all.
Okay thanks for taking the time to explain. That helps to clarify for me.
"I'll veto any culture war bill that codes my way," he says as he reiterates his support for a culture war bill. 👎🏻
Fucking cowards.
No Democrat who collaborates with hate should be allowed to step foot in office.