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Lately it seems Americans are obsessing over gender identity instead of focusing on arguably more important things. On the other hand, the issue is hard to ignore.
Between Bud Light boycotts, transgender women peddling tampons, and debates over gender affirming care for kids, the topic remains front and center in our national discourse.
Female-only spaces have become a battle ground as conservatives and far left feminists alike fear for women’s safety (not from trans women, necessarily, but from male predators who’d do whatever it takes to infiltrate these spaces). Meanwhile, trans activists say that keeping trans women out of female bathrooms, locker rooms, shelters and prisons is discriminatory – and in many cases, illegal.
As we continue to fight over these issues, and insult each other for either putting pronouns in our email signatures or refusing to do so, China and Russia are passing the popcorn in the front row seats of our sparring match, just waiting for the US to implode.
So let’s stop this ridiculous side show and find actual solutions to these complex, emotionally charged issues.
In the spirit of finding common ground and bridging our divide, this MOMlitics episode focuses on a gender identity topic in which compromise is already in the works: the issue of transgender athletes. Namely, where to draw the line between encouraging athletic participation for all people and fighting discrimination, while protecting the physical safety of biological females and not hampering their potential for success in sports.
To delve deeper, Jiu-Jitsu World Masters Champion Erica Zendell joins this episode of MOMlitics to discuss the concept of trans women in female combat sports, as well as solutions that all sides might be willing to support.
#108: Trans athletes in combat sports - balancing danger with discrimination