Why WA voters rebuffed Dems on I-638, even in blue wave election
www.seattletimes.com
As a blue wave washed across the U.S., Washington voters passed an initiative that the state’s Democratic Party opposed. There are multiple ways to understand why.

Opponents say [Washington state] voters were persuaded at least partly because the initiative and its boosters exploited deep-seated prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender people to erode their rights.

  • Triasha@lemmy.world
    42·
    20 hours ago

    First: part of the point of sports in secondary education is team building. Not every kid wants to play football, as much as they want to play football in their school team with their friends and classmates.

    Second, most schools do not have the populations to support more than a handful of teams for the most popular sports, and a single team for less popular sports. This could work for individual sports, like track or swimming, but basketball and baseball might struggle.

    Third: where do you draw the lines? This is a solvable question if Informed by the first 2, but it raises blood pressure.

    I have no personal stake in this. I didn’t know I was trans in school. I when I played sports, I played on the boys teams. But the question I come back to is: are trans girls…girls?

    If they are, what is the problem? We don’t ban tall girls from girls basketball. We don’t ban strong girls from girls wrestling. We celebrate them. Should Michael phelps have his medals revoked because he clearly has natural advantages in swimming?

    The whole controversy is only a controversy if you don’t actually think we are the gender we say we are.

    • billwashere@lemmy.worldEnglish
      61·
      20 hours ago

      I understand the point. And yes everyone should be allowed to participate. I am just playing devils advocate and understanding why parents think this way. Hell I wouldn’t let my own kid play football regardless. It’s brutal. Well full contact tackle. Flag football was really fun in college. And the population problem is always a problem with small schools. I transferred for a tiny high school in WV to a giant school in NC and was floored by some of the sports they had. I don’t even know you could have a high school swim team or golf.

      There isn’t a perfect easy solution. If I had a little girl in high school athletics, I’d be like fuck it, play whatever. If another player is better than you, transgender or not, get better. Train harder. As an adult life is hard. Nothing is fair. What we really should be banning is the rich kids, they’re the ones with the true advantages 😂