Should biological men compete in women’s sports? The executives at Gatorade, Adidas, and Nike seem to think they should.
The three companies are some of the top financial supporters of Athlete Ally Inc., an activist organization that wants to “end homophobia and transphobia in sport and to activate the athletic community to exercise their leadership to champion LGBTQI+ equality.”
According to the group’s 2022 annual report, the three companies have each donated more than $100,000 to advance Athlete Ally’s pro-transgender agenda in sports. Some of the group’s other corporate sponsors include Dicks Sporting Goods, Gillette, the NFL, NBA, WNBA, and others.
The issue of whether biological men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports has been hotly debated in recent years, and increasingly so in light of recent changes to Title IX.
When Congress passed Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, it greatly expanded the opportunities available to girls and women by prohibiting discrimination in any education program or activity based on an individual’s sex.
Earlier this month, the Biden administration announced new changes to Title IX that will prohibit institutions that receive federal funding from discriminating against someone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The changes go into effect on August 1.
Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), chair of the House Education & Workforce Committee, criticized the administration’s changes to Title IX, arguing that they would erode fair competition in women’s sports and threaten decades of advancement for female athletes.
“The Department of Education has placed Title IX, and the decades of advancement and protections for women and girls that it has yielded, squarely on the chopping block,” said Foxx in a statement.
“This final rule dumps kerosene on the already raging fire that is Democrats’ contemptuous culture war that aims to radically redefine sex and gender. The rule also undermines existing due process rights, placing students and institutions in legal jeopardy and again undermining the protections Title IX is intended to provide,” Foxx added. “Evidently, the acceptance of biological reality and the faithful implementation of the law are just pills too big for the Department to swallow – and it shows.”
The issues posed by transgender athletes were highlighted during a recent city council meeting in Irving. During the meeting, a local man passionately pleaded with council members to support the legalization of gambling in Texas.
“I know some people think sports betting is risky, but I’ve got an unbeaten system… and a sports-betting angle that is foolproof,” the unidentified man claimed, according to Sky News Australia. “Since y’all want to allow all these transgenders up in the league, I became almost a millionaire betting on Lia Thomas… winning all those swimming meets.”
Biological women who compete in men’s sports purportedly stand little to no chance of outperforming their biologically male counterparts. However, some transgender athletes competing in women’s sports have been shattering records.
According to a 2021 paper by Gregory Brown, a professor of exercise science at the University of Nebraska, the physiological differences between men and women result in observable athletic advantages for males. Additionally, such advantages appear to exist for males before puberty and after testosterone suppression.
Tax information for calendar year 2022 shows that Athlete Ally reported $2.1 million in revenue, $1.91 million in operating expenses, and about $182,000 in net income.
Of the 2.1 million annual revenue, 96.4% was earned through corporate and individual contributions. Furthermore, over 50% of Athlete Ally’s operating expenses went directly to executive compensation (10.2% or $195,000) and other salaries and wages (40.9% or $784,989).
A representative of the organization was not immediately available to comment when contacted by The Dallas Express.
