Transgender allies are criticizing Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) for telling a right-leaning website that it’s “legitimate” for people to worry about the fairness of including transgender student-athletes, and implying that trans athletes threaten the safety of people’s “daughters.” One longtime gay journalist called Gallego’s comments “appalling.”
Gallego is now one of five Democrats in Congress who have publicly opposed the full inclusion of trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. However, he has voted against legislation to ban trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports nationwide.
“As a parent of a daughter, I think it’s legitimate that parents are worried about the safety of their daughters, and I think it’s legitimate for us to be worried also about fair competition,” Gallego recently told The Dispatch, a right-leaning digital magazine.
“There are some sports that some of these trans children should not be playing,” he said, adding that local school boards and associations should figure out the competitions where “there should be a separation [based on players’ sex assigned at birth].”
Indeed, policies on trans sports participation used to be decided by local school boards, state athletic associations, and governing bodies overseeing certain sports and schools. However, Republicans have passed bans on trans sports participation in 28 states – all since the 2020 elections – though courts have blocked six of the states from enforcing their bans. Nevertheless, the president has issued executive orders to pressure colleges, universities, and sports governing bodies, like the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to adopt trans sports bans.
Gallego added that parents of trans children are also “worried legitimately about the health and wellness of their kids,” and said trans children should compassionately be told, “Hey, listen, we love you. We want you to be part of our community, but this is just the one place you can’t play, and let’s find other activities for you to be involved.”
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While Republicans have said that trans sports bans protect girls’ and women’s sports, critics of this position have pointed out that sexism, abuse, and poor funding harm women’s sports and discourage female athleticism far more than trans competitors. Critics also note that most young trans student-athletes just want to play sports alongside their friends, and that such inclusion is important to their overall well-being.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) is the latest Democratic politician to stupidly capitulate on trans athletes by using anti-trans framing, as he told right-leaning publication The Dispatch (who recently nabbed SCOTUSBlog) that trans women athletes compromise “the safety of their daughters”. Gallego had in the past voted against banning trans women from women’s sports.
