Old lady eyes, protecting girls' sports and the Boston Globe's participation in a presidential coronation

It’s hard to believe that I am old enough to be wearing progressive lenses but alas, a recent trip to the eye doctor confirmed that my eyes have gotten old. When I used the word “old” with her in the office, the doc said, “I prefer to say that your eyes are changing.” Perhaps I’ll start saying that now for all sorts of other “changes” that seem to come with age. My breasts aren’t sagging. They’re changing. My hair isn’t turning gray, my skin isn’t wrinkling, my middle isn’t filling out more than I’d like—it’s all just changing and change is good, right? Looking like an Oompa Loompa is every girl’s dream!

As I adjust to my old-lady eyes, the Biden administration continues full steam ahead to erase all the sex-based rights girls and women won with the passage of Title IX fifty years ago. Biden’s rewrite of the law —yes, he is circumventing Congress to make these changes—swaps gender identity in for biological sex and the ramifications for this change are many.

I’m sorry to say but now we must shift to penises in girls’ sports (and in the locker room!)

At the moment, my organization, Parents Defending Education, is especially focused on saving girls’ sports and ensuring that girls and young women not be forced to compete against males who identify as female.

It is unfair because of the physical advantages that males enjoy.

It is unsafe and puts girls at much greater risk for injury, also because of the physical advantages of males.

And there is a serious privacy issue at play because male athletes who identify as girls would also have full access to the locker room; they will be allowed to expose their genitals to female athletes without their consent and also observe the girls as they shower or change into their uniforms and swimsuits.

The comment period for the public to weigh in on changes like the ones being proposed is usually sixty or ninety days but for some reason, the White House has limited the comment window to thirty days. Our efforts and the efforts of others to get the comment period extended have failed.

So, if you are one of the 71 percent of voters who oppose allowing biological males being allowed to compete with and against our girls and young women, click here to make your voice heard. We have drafted text for you to use as a template but your message is more likely to be read if you modify what we have provided and personalize it a bit.

I am a mother of all boys who have played sports their entire lives and I will die on the hill of keeping males off of girls’ and women’s sports teams and out of their locker rooms. While proponents of these changes wrap themselves in a cloak of kindness and inclusion, there is nothing kind or inclusive about this. On the contrary, these changes put girls at risk, rob them of opportunities and completely violate their privacy and their dignity.

It is perfectly fair for boys to play chess against girls or compete against them on the debate team or mock trial. Sports are a different story.

Title IX is about opportunity and fairness and these changes completely unravel both of those principles.

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A short rant…

Call me crazy but I was under the impression that newspapers did not make endorsements until they knew who the names of all the candidates in the race. Maybe it’s the lack of partisan DNA and tribal instinct in me, but I don’t make decisions about who to vote for until I know who is running.

The Boston Globe doesn’t share my opinion on this. They came out on April 25th and endorsed Joe Biden for re-election in 2024 because he “has accomplished a great deal.” Ok, but what if an opponent, in or outside of his party, has accomplished more or is persuasive that they will accomplish more and better things? There is a fair argument to be made that Biden running again meets the actual definition of elder abuse, not because of his age but because of his obvious cognitive decline. He is clearly not running the show at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The Globe decides to ignore those “minor details” so they can get out of the gate ridiculously early with their Vote for Joe campaign.

If the Boston Globe’s editorial team wants to participate in a coronation instead of an election, they should probably add a disclaimer to their masthead.

Rant over.

Talk soon,

Erika