If FCPS Maintains Its Current Policy of Allowing Sports Team Participation by Chosen Gender, How Do They Justify Distinguishing Who Competes on What Team?

In Frederick County, by school policy, a student can choose to play on the team that matches their self-identified gender. The school system’s position is that the student is who they say they are, so if a biological male says they are female, the policy allows them to compete on a girl’s interscholastic team.

If the only criterion for participation is a declaration, then any male can compete on any girl’s team based on his statement declaring a new gender. Since school policy prohibits challenging that declaration, theoretically, this means that by policy, every male student could compete on a girl’s team if they choose to make such a declaration.

Is that likely? No. But by maintaining the criteria of the current policy, FCPS is, in essence, declaring that biology is no longer the criteria for separating competition, so why maintain any distinction at all by biological sex? If you’re willing to support a policy that states biology is no longer a factor, why not just follow through on your decision that biology doesn’t matter and apply it evenly throughout FCPS and have only one team for soccer, volleyball, softball, basketball, swimming, etc. and the best performers, regardless of biological sex, will be the ones who participate.

If the BOE believes that biology is not a consideration or that a chosen gender supersedes biological distinctions and fairness, why not stand by the conviction in full and eliminate the biological distinction entirely?

The reason is that it wouldn’t be right, and it wouldn’t be fair. It would eventually lead to the elimination of participation by women in interscholastic sports. It would eliminate the progress made in women’s sports over the last fifty years through programs like Title IX. It would diminish opportunities for girls to obtain sports scholarships or to participate for the joy of participation without the risk of injury. It would be wrong, and if it’s wrong to eliminate the biological separation of sports in this situation, then it’s wrong in all situations.

If you believe that sports participation should be separated by biological sex, let the BOE and FCPS leadership know. If not, we are likely headed for a new sports environment for our children.