This op-ed was written by Stephanie Lundquist-Arora, IWN member and chapter leader in Virginia. Originally appeared on Washington Examiner.
It’s no wonder there are so many people claiming to be transgender. The identity provides a hall pass, or sometimes quite literally a get-out-of-jail-free card.
As one example, there are laws against indecent exposure in Washington, but not if one identifies as trans and is on White House grounds, apparently.
Presumably, assault is illegal and prosecuted even in California. But the rules are not the same if the male assailant identifies as trans and the victim is Riley Gaines. The former collegiate swimmer must have deserved to be held hostage and punched in the head by enraged college students in April 2023 for daring to speak out about the rights of female athletes and the original intent of Title IX.
Despite the permitted abuse and harassment on multiple college campuses, Gaines’s women’s rights and free speech trail led her most recently this month to a library in Missouri, where Bethany Hamilton joined her. Hamilton, one of the world’s best female surfers, objects to the World Surf League’s new trans inclusion rule.
Hamilton has faced more than her fair share of adversity, and competing against males should not be added to her list. In 2003, a shark bit off Hamilton’s left arm. With what can only be described as remarkable tenacity and superhuman resilience, she returned to the sport a mere 26 days after the attack. Two years later, she took first place in the National Scholastic Surfing Association Championship.
Like Gaines, Hamilton believes in the “radical” notion that females deserve a space to compete against each other.
There are undoubtedly many trans activists displaying “Be Kind” magnets on their car bumpers who would disagree with Hamilton. These activists, rarely athletes themselves, fervently argue that males should have access to female spaces, including sports. And while there is a general societal expectation that opponents to Hamilton’s viewpoint might attack the argument and not the person, we all know that the rules and norms don’t apply to the transgender community. They are special.
In their latest protest efforts, for example, trans activists unsurprisingly showed up to the Missouri library event with Gaines and Hamilton donning trans flags as their heroic capes. A particularly cruel attendee wore a shark costume. It’s difficult to know if, in an unfortunate coincidence, that attendee was identifying as a shark (don’t assume!). More likely though, the attendee was simply committing one of the most heinously awful bullying attacks possible against Hamilton — taunting her for the life-altering, traumatic nightmare she suffered as a 13-year-old.
The vast majority of people recognize the hypocrisy and injustice of allowing these radical activists to do and say whatever they please — others’ rights be damned. But they don’t talk about it publicly because they are afraid of being canceled or fired from their jobs.
Still, this matter is drawing attention. This year, along the sidelines of a turf field, I overheard a group of parents discussing the possibility of collegiate sports scholarships for their athlete sons. One of the fathers said, “Let’s put dresses on them. It’s a game changer.” All the parents laughed and then looked around nervously to see who had heard them.
We are living in a world in which teachers are telling our children from the youngest ages that there is a new social hierarchy of humans. And according to this hierarchy, bullying matters less or more depending on the racial, sexual, and gender identities of the perpetrator and the victim.
The question, then, isn’t why are more children now identifying as transgender, but really, why aren’t they? Who doesn’t enjoy being above the law?
