Jane Hirst, Minot

I am writing in response to the Local Opinion piece by Amber Vibeto titled “Counterfeit Justice in Sports.” Ms Vibeto has some valid concerns in her article, but also shared some ideas that I found to be either misleading or false. In particular, Amber asserted that males are inherently faster and stronger than females, due to the increased levels of testosterone that stimulate muscle mass and red blood cells. The study she used to defend her position from the British Medical Journal was done on elite adult athletes who didn’t start hormone suppressing therapy until they had already achieved their maximum testosterone levels, muscle mass, and red blood cells. Under the current NDHSAA policy, in order to compete as a female, transgender females have to take testosterone-suppressing hormones for at least one year. A young athlete would not have the same hormone levels, so would not have that same advantage the adult elite athletes were found to have. Therefore, any advantage is greatly diminished when we are discussing middle and high school-aged athletes. Her concern about these athletes having an advantage is not borne out. I personally have more concern about unfair advantage in sports with a transgender male (who had been receiving testosterone for at least one year) competing against cisgender females. HB 1298 would require that these athletes compete on the team that corresponds to the sex assigned at birth, thus they would have to compete on the girls’ team.

Ms Vibeto asserts that biological sex is simple and straightforward, but scientific research shows that it is actually very complex and involves chromosomes, genetics, neurobiology, and endocrinology. According to an article written by Simone D Sun in Scientific American (2019), biological sex isn’t immutable but is a living, complex system with the potential for change that isn’t strictly binary. Genes called SRY, DMRT1 and FOXL2 and their expression are involved in the development of sexual characteristics. Additionally, hormones, environment, experience, and the interaction of genes are part of the complex system that determines our bodily characteristics. “Transgender humans represent the complexity and diversity that are fundamental features of life, evolution, and nature.” (Sun, 2019)

Ms Vibeto states that “we should tell them the truth of who they are… and advocate for psychological care to address their confusion and distress”. It sounds like she is advocating Conversion Therapy, which has been shown to cause a lot more harm to people than it does good. Rather, transgender adolescents need love, support, acceptance, and a sense of belonging. Transgender individuals have reported a very high rate of suicidal ideations and completed suicide, likely due to psychosocial stress, bullying, and victimization. They have found those thoughts and actions decrease when they feel free to be themselves. HB 1298 will add to these stressors and could contribute to further issues with depression, anxiety and self-harm.

Some of the other issues addressed in this letter were extremely hurtful to all members of the LGBTQ+ community, even though I hope that was not her intention. The idea that “identifying with the LGBT movement will have them be celebrated by their peers and the culture” would certainly be questioned by many who have been bullied, harassed, discriminated against or even killed for being gay, lesbian, bi or trans. The idea that “different groups are actively recruiting our youth to identify with the LGBT movement” shows a lack of understanding that people cannot be recruited to be something they are not. People do not choose to be LGBTQ+ just as others do not choose to be straight. The idea that “the number of kids who identify as transgender is skyrocketing” is one that I cannot find any data to support. If we are seeing an increase of trans-identifying kids, I would guess that it is because these young people are feeling more comfortable coming out rather than struggling with their identity and being one of the numerous transgender people who hide the truth about themselves. We should continue to work on developing inclusive policies rather than being concerned that transgender females are going to take over girls’ sports. If Ms Vibeto were truly concerned about the “mental well-being of our youth”, she would be supporting the small number of young people who struggle to find their place in a world that has not been kind or supportive. She would also be against HB 1298, which is an answer to a problem that doesn’t exist, is discriminatory, and tells transgender youth that their lives don’t matter.