As parents, schools, and the public writ large anticipate the release of the Biden administration's guidance on Title IX, now delayed (again) until March, all signs point toward the White House giving males unrestricted access to female sports, locker rooms, restrooms, and other female-only spaces.
The same politicians and radical activists who are arguing for males to be given access to female-only spaces were seemingly just yesterday lecturing Americans about "the patriarchy" and "toxic masculinity." Regarding Title IX itself, "rape culture" on college campuses was a favorite talking point. "Believe all women" has transformed into "affirm all men."
Now, those same proponents demand we accept that males are females simply if they wish to be, no questions asked. Not affirming them as female is met with emotional outbursts, insults, pejoratives, social ostracizing, charges of harassment, and loss of employment.
Activists attempt to manipulate and ensnare good-hearted people with claims of a "transgender genocide." They deploy hyperbolic emotional blackmail with questions like, "do you want a live daughter or dead son?"
Numerous institutions have attempted alternatives, such as offering students the use of staff or single-stall bathrooms, separate accommodations, and even a transgender sports category. However, activists quickly rejected these, insisting that anything less than total acquiescence counts as injustice.
Society has already seen glimpses of what is to come by allowing males to invade female spaces, and it is horrifying.
Two years ago, Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia allowed a male student, claiming to be female, to access single-sex female spaces. When it was discovered that he raped a girl in the school bathroom, the school district hid the event from the community and moved the male assailant to another school where he subsequently sexually assaulted another female student.
Last year in North Carolina, high school athlete Payton McNabb was knocked unconscious by a biological male during her high school volleyball match. She still struggles from that injury.
At Waterloo High School in Illinois, students rejected the transgender bathroom policy passed by the school board by engaging in peaceful civil disobedience. The superintendent accused them of "harassment" and of violating district policy. The students' crime? Following the recently passed bathroom policy and seeking alternative accommodations in the school nurse's office.
At Essex Westford School District in Vermont, an administrator stated in emails that recognizing those who have chosen to detransition "is harmful toward the trans community," and therefore a violation of the district's equity policy.
And just recently in Colorado, it was revealed that an 11-year-old girl was assigned to share a bed, not just a room, with a male claiming to be a female on a school-sanctioned trip.
Unfortunately, tens of thousands of schools across the country serving millions of students have policies in place that allow these outrageous incidents to happen. At best, female students are forced to seek alternative accommodations if they feel unsafe. At worst, they risk being accused of a Title IX violation of discrimination and then subsequently punished.
Americans need to start demanding that transgender activists and their elected allies answer what, if any, are the limiting factors for their proposals. If we are forced to affirm and accept any male's claim to be female, how can we identify bad actors—especially those who seek access to female spaces for nefarious purposes? How do we protect young females from unwanted prying eyes, the humiliation of sharing private spaces with males, increased exposure to injury, or, heaven forbid, rape?
The activists will inevitably respond with accusations of harassment and hyperbole. It would not be surprising if they start smearing any female who stands up to them as guilty of "toxic femininity."
We need to reject the emotional knee-jerk magic spell that radical activists try to cast every time we push back to protect females and female spaces.
In her recent congressional testimony, Riley Gaines showed us the way: stay calm, see through the spell, reject attempts at manipulation, and stand by your principles.
"We the people" need to unite in our opposition to this worsening insanity and demand that the Biden administration protect female spaces and females. Males have no place in female sports, female locker rooms, or female bathrooms.
Rhyen Staley is a researcher for Parents Defending Education. He has served as both a men's and women's volleyball coach for over 25 years for grade school, high school, and college teams. He holds a master's degree in elementary education and over a decade of classroom experience in both public and private schools.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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