14 hours Ago
To the editor: When will progressives learn to defuse the GOP’s ultimate wedge issue of transphobia? Does anyone think that Franklin D. Roosevelt would have secured the presidency for Democrats by advocating for racial integration in professional sports? Not a chance. (“ Tensions brew over trans athletes at Riverside high school, as conservative protests grow ,” Dec.
20) After FDR died, President Truman issued the landmark 1948 executive order that desegregated the armed forces. That auspicious move served to integrate the larger society, including professional sports, within a few years. Had Democrats advocated for three separate sports competition categories — for men, women and transgender people — they likely would have regained control of Congress and retained the presidency in the 2024 election.
They would have been ideally positioned to enact laws to protect transgender Americans. Advocating for transgender people is the right thing to do. But in the sports world, the time is not yet ripe.
Edgar M. Martinez, Orcutt, Calif. .
. To the editor: I am a post-surgery trans person. Please entertain this opinion based on experience, if not logic alone.
The World Professional Assn. for Transgender Health, or WPATH, provides a rigorous process in its standards for care for transitioning via medical means. WPATH intends to protect trans people from the potential danger of beginning their transition too soon or when doing so may not be in their best interests.
Perhaps the WPATH standards could be applied (in California) to, for instance, boys who wish to join girls’ sports teams or use women’s changing facilities. Hormone replacement therapy will nullify many male strength advantages. It is ludicrous that a boy would go through hormone replacement therapy for the right to use a women’s restroom.
While I don’t support additional barriers to people facing an already difficult process, perhaps children should be looked at in a different light. Trish Kelly, Corona ..
To the editor: We could ensure fairness by following boxing’s model. Boxers compete within their weight classes. Yes, boxers are also sorted by sex, but that’s a different matter.
Most of us don’t want to see men punching women, regardless of weight. Let’s do the equivalent in other sports where gender identity has become an issue. In swimming and running, for example, athletes could be classified by muscle mass or whatever other traits are deemed relevant.
An athlete’s gender identity would not matter. In athletics, gender is just a proxy for the characteristics that actually make a difference. Let’s do away with the proxy and sort by the relevant characteristics.
Robert Silberg, Los Angeles.
