Fairness in Women’s Sports

Should transgender athletes compete in sports meant for biological women? This article discusses the newly approved “Fairness in Women’s Sports” Act, and not only how people are currently reacting to the bill, but opinions that were in circulation about transgender athletes that would participate in the(at the time) upcoming 2020 Olympics.

Tweet from user @iicf_backhome , an assumed Floridian resident, starting a thread of Twitter posts about the newly passed “Fairness in Women’s Sports” act. The thread itself does not quote the bill itself or any type of sources, but is simply interpretation of the people.

Firstly, some background; on Wednesday, April 14th, 2021, the “Fairness in Women’s Sports” Act was passed, 70–44. This bill, in the simplest of terms, would allow schools at a K-12 range to check students biological sex, and ban them from women’s sports. People have come up with many different statements in response to this bill; this will allow schools to molest children, this is discriminatory towards transgender youth, discriminatory towards transgender people in general, this is simply the stepping stone to “Nazi America”.

On the other hand, some people also recognize that this bill is trying to protect women’s sports from those with an “unfair biological advantage”.

This video was posted before the bill was passed, but still discusses the controversial topic of transgender athletes and the existing (at the time) rules for them, mostly at the Olympic level.

Tweet from Floridian House Representative (Democratic) Omari Hardy, expressing their pain over the “Fairness in Women’s Sports” act.

Twitter post by @heyyitsalexx in response to @OmariJHardy ‘s earlier post, laminating about the bill passing. In this tweet, the user Alexis generalizes the bill and claims that any student would be asked to pull their pants down by a staff member, which would mean mass molestation in schools.

This is a direct screenshot from the bill itself (full bill is embedded below) stating that only students of “club athletic teams or sports that are sponsored by a public, primary, or secondary school… whose students or teams compete against [another] school” would actually be involved in this act.

Another screenshot direct from the bill. In this paragraph, you can see that students are not asked to “pull down their pants” by any school faculty, but “[request] that the student provide a health examination and consent form or other statement signed by the student’s PERSONAL health care provider to verify the student’s biological sex.”

A video that showcases the advantage transgender women have in women’s sports, and how there are also men who will briefly become transgender, compete in women’s sports and break all records, and then reidentify as a man. This video pulls from both transgender athletes at the Olympic level, and in the K-12 range.

Sources (in order of appearance)-

@iicf_backhome. “Tw // Transphobia , Sexual Assault — -a Thread on What’s Happening in Florida Because It’s Terrifying and No One Is Talking about It.” Twitter, Twitter, 18 Apr. 2021, twitter.com/iicf_backhome/status/1383689578146525193.
Credibility- 1/10
-Although it does discuss the bill, it takes all points of the bill and blows it out of proportion in order to cause panic and hysteria.
-Does not include any sources, does not discuss or quote relevant politicians or news stories.

“Are the Rules for Trans Athletes Fair?” YouTube, The Economist, 26 Dec. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrgJQI3O_RQ.
Credibility- 9/10
-Includes the point of view from both sides of the argument.
-Includes multiple different sources, that the viewer can find easily.
-Took off one credibility point since they did not link sources in the description of the video, simply stated the names in the video itself.

Hardy, Omari J. “We Gave Everything We Had to Give…” Twitter, Twitter, 15 Apr. 2021, twitter.com/OmariJHardy/status/1382521994554572804.
Credibility- 5/10
-The author, Omari Hardy, is an actual politician that worked with this bill (not in its creation, simply the voting process) and got some credibility points for that.
-He doesn’t exactly claim that transgender or other children would be molested, but allows his followers to assume it through his use of words “subjecting kids whose sex may be disputed to genital inspections”.

Alexis. “So Just so I’m Understanding This Correctly…” Twitter, @Heyyitsalexx, 15 Apr. 2021, twitter.com/heyyitsalexx/status/1382649452935196678.
Credibility- 0/10
-Completely exaggerates the effects of the bill.
-No sources, and in fact takes the words of the bill and twists them to suggest mass molestation in schools.
-Can be disproven by one source, which is the bill itself.

Https://Www.flsenate.gov/, 2021, p. 2–3. www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2021/1475/BillText/c1/PDF.
Credibility- 10/10
-It is the source itself, published on the official website for the Senate/House of Representatives.

“Transgender Athletes Are DESTROYING Women’s Sports | RT Topics [Corrected Version].” YouTube, RussiaToday, 24 Sept. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJe82yniZQo.
Credibility- 9/10
-Includes the point of view from both sides of the argument.
-Includes multiple different sources, that the viewer can find easily.
-Similarly to the first video, I took off one credibility point since they did not link sources in the description of the video, simply stated the names in the video itself.
-Includes multiple scientific sources for the biology involved.

The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. (I can’t guarantee this embed works, but I have provided links in case it doesn’t.)