Look to the Source of the Outrage

Trans Inclusion in Sports Part 5

How did anti-trans sentiment, including outrage against trans girls and women in sport, become a cornerstone of the right wing? It was a deliberate campaign on the part of social conservative activists, who needed a new issue to draw outrage after gay marriage became the law of the land.

As Terry Schilling, the president of American Principles Project, said to The New York Times, “We knew we needed to find an issue that the candidates were comfortable talking about...And we threw everything at the wall.”

In other words, the same groups that fought against gay marriage are now actively working to make sure that conservative Americans and the politicians they vote for believe that trans people are a threat to them and their way of life.

The strategy is nothing new, and it’s not uniquely right-wing. Politicians, political parties, and partisan groups of all persuasions capitalize on outrage to drive votes and donations. What is, to me, uniquely right-wing is the direction of outrage toward marginalized groups. On many issues, including this one, Republicans turn their attacks on groups who hold little power, already face discrimination, and represent sometimes miniscule portions of our population.

According to a report from the Williams Institute at UCLA, 0.6% of people over the age of 13 identify as transgender in the U.S. While research suggests younger people are more likely to identify as trans than older adults, this still is a minute percentage of the population.

And trans people make up an even smaller portion of people playing sports. Earlier this year, NCAA president Charlie Baker said during testimony to a Senate panel that “less than 10” of the 510,000 NCAA athletes are trans. That is less than 0.002% Two THOUSANDTHS of a percent.

Former Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, a Republican, acknowledged as much when he vetoed a state law prohibiting trans girls from player girls’ sports: “The presumption of the policy laid out in HEA 1041 is that there is an existing problem in K-12 sports in Indiana that requires further state government intervention. It implies that the goals of consistency and fairness in competitive female sports are not currently being met. After thorough review, I find no evidence to support either claim even if I support the effort overall.”

It didn’t matter. The Republican-controlled state legislature overrode the veto. Because the existence of a “threat” isn’t the point. The “fairness" isn’t the point. The “outrage" IS the point. It’s what brings in the money and the votes.

We don’t have to be outraged. We can choose another path instead. Take for example the words of another Republican governor, Spencer Cox of Utah, when he vetoed his state’s trans sports ban (also overrode by the Republican legislature):

“I struggle to understand so much of it and the science is conflicting. When in doubt however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy, and compassion.”

Check out the other posts in the series, and head to Athlete Ally's Resource page for more ways to support trans inclusion in sports.