In Defense of Mississippi

In March 2021, Mississippi passed a bill banning transgender women from participating in women's sports. This bill was signed by their governor and is expected to become law on July 1, 2021. This is a wonderful move on behalf of the Mississippi legislature and governor. Transgender "women" should not be allowed to participate in girls or women's sports.

Growing up, I was on the women's tennis team all four years of my high school career. I was a decent player, playing number 2 out of a top 6 singles team for two of my four years. The first two years, I played number 11 and 9 on a team that won the girls statewide championship.

My husband, on the other hand, was never on his high school tennis team. In fact, he can probably count the number of times he has played tennis in his life on two hands. Despite this, he has beaten me on several occasions when we play together. Why? Men are naturally more muscular and athletic than women. He could reach the ball faster, because he can run faster, and he hit the ball harder, because he is stronger than I am. 

Let's look at the biology between a person who is born a man and a person who is born a woman. In sum, a person born biologically male will have, between the time he is born until age 5 months, more testosterone than a person born biologically female will ever have in her life. From age 0 to 5 months, a person born biologically male has testosterone levels from 75-400 ng/dl, which a female will have levels of 20-80. The levels only get more separated as both sexes age. 

When a man turns 19 and from then on, his average testosterone levels are 240 - 950. In women? This number is 80-60. You read that right. A woman aged 19 and older has levels generally less than a newborn male baby. (https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323085)

Why is this important? Testosterone is the hormone that regulates - and builds - bone and muscle strength. A person who is born biologically male and "transitions" to become a female will still have very high levels of testosterone, making it very unfair for him to compete against female athletes. 

Furthermore, people born biologically male are generally taller and bigger than those born biologically female. The average height and weight for males in the United States in 2021 was 5'9 and 180 pounds (https://www.healthline.com/health/mens-health/average-weight-for-men#:~:text=How%20much%20does%20the%20average,(about%2069.1%20inches)%20tall.&text=As%20time%20wears%20on%2C%20American,in%20both%20stature%20and%20weight.). For women, this number is 5'4 and 170 pounds. 

When those born biologically male "transition" to become female, they do not take any kind of medicine that stunts their height. In fact, this is impossible. Therefore, they're at a statistical and very unfair advantage over those born biologically female.

Women have been marginalized, enslaved and treated unfairly for most of civilized society. Permitting those who were born male to take hormones, claim they are now "female" and then take wins away from hardworking female athletes is absurd and unfair. I applaud Mississippi for this move in banning transgender "women" from competing in girls and womens sports. I hope other states will follow suit, protecting womens rights, and pass similar measures.