Readers Write: Trans girls in sports, Elon’s email

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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“Transgender girls have an unfair advantage in girls' sports,” says Karen Tolkkinen (column, Feb. 23). She claims there’s too much riding on success in high school sports to allow trans girls to compete with/against those Cassandra Wilson calls “genetic girls.” After all, “today’s sports typically aren’t for fun.” They can get you a scholarship into an academic institution (or into the Olympics!), and trans girls are supposedly deemed more physically competitive than genetic girls.

Perhaps it’s the great equalizer for genetic boys who go through high school at a greater frontal lobe disadvantage and are less likely to pursue a degree in higher education (at least they’ve got their name and photo enshrined in a trophy case). Yes, in the world of competitive high school sports, unfairness is a staple. Some schools have better facilities, or a more positive school atmosphere. Some students have the luxury of after school commitments, while others are required to take care of siblings or work a part-time job. Statistics show the actual number of trans people in the U.S. competing in NCAA sports could fit in even the smallest elevator. So what’s the issue, and why do well-meaning columnists like Tolkkinen think they have to come to the rescue of “genetic girl” athletes?

David Ritsema, Minneapolis

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I was incredibly disappointed to see the Minnesota Star Tribune giving voice to support for discriminatory policies when I opened my paper last Sunday in the column titled “Transgender girls have an unfair advantage in girls' sports.” The author gives Republican lawmakers kudos for taking an interest in the rights of women and girls (at the expense of trans women and girls). I would challenge these so-called crusaders of women in sports to name more than a handful of female athletes or, more importantly, to demonstrate how they have supported female athletes in their lives in any meaningful way.

They act under the guise of support of women to attack trans women. The piece rightly speaks to the challenges that trans kids face but then categorically suggests that they should be banned from sports in their preferred gender category because they are “faster and stronger” and have “longer limbs.” I would prefer that the Star Tribune not give voice to this type of commentary that is hurtful to the trans community, or would ask that there is some attempt to support such weighty claims with empirical data and facts versus the opinion of a writer who attended a roller derby one time and happened upon a trans person.

Sara Lohrman, Minneapolis

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When Minnesota House Republicans introduced the Preserving Girls’ Sports Act, it was not done with an interest in the rights of girls and women. It was done with actual intent to devalue the identity and dignity of transgender girls in Minnesota. The current attack on transgender athletes is a solution in search of problem. It is an irrational fear that all transgender girls have a long-con agenda to gain a competitive edge in amateur women’s sports.

It is a movement driven by adults, with no personal connection to issue, who place more value on the hypothetical results of amateur K-12 sporting events than they do on the life lessons, shared experiences and community building that K-12 sports foster. It is a rigid worldview that ignores the scientific reality that not all children are born with only XY or XX chromosomes and not all cisgender males are physically superior to all cisgender females. It is a fringe issue not backed up by empirical data. Instead, it has gained traction due to the rise of bigotry and a new obsession with invading Minnesotans' privacy.

In Minnesota, we value acceptance. In Minnesota, we treat everyone with dignity and respect. In Minnesota, we care more about the people in our communities than imaginary and manufactured controversies. In Minnesota, we don’t allow bigotry to dictate our laws.

Do better, Minnesota.

Michael Gilligan, Excelsior

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In Tolkkinen’s column in last Sunday’s paper about trans girls in sports, she comes out in support of trans people in general, against trans girls in girls’ sports specifically. What is missing in her story, as missed in all the loud, angry rhetoric espoused by President Donald Trump and the GOP, are the numbers. Based on CDC data, about 3.3% of high school students identify as trans. It is estimated the number of these who participate in sports is 40%, so 1.32% of students. How is this an actual problem that needs solving? 1-2-3-4, I declare a culture war.

Christine Chambers, Shoreview

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Megan Peterson says that transgender girls do not have an unfair advantage in sports (“The real threat to women’s sports? It’s not trans athletes,” Strib Voices, Feb. 26). She says that arguments to the contrary are not based on science. That isn’t true.

It is a fact that males are on average bigger, stronger and faster than females. That is why men and women compete separately in sports. That is easily proven by comparing men’s and women’s world records. And research has shown that during puberty there are permanent changes in physiology that cannot be undone by hormone therapy after puberty. Here is a quote from a research paper on the subject: “Male physiology cannot be reformatted by estrogen therapy in transwoman athletes because testosterone has driven permanent effects through early life exposure.” (See “Transwoman Elite Athletes: Their Extra Percentage Relative to Female Physiology” by Alison K. Heather in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.)

Based on the science, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) does not allow transgender women who transitioned after age 12 to compete in the women’s category. The World Athletics and International Cycling Union both have similar criteria to the IOC.

Peterson also makes the point that trans athletes are a very small percentage of NCAA athletes. That is irrelevant. The point of having rules is to keep the competition fair. Arguing that the unfairness only happens occasionally, and therefore we should ignore it, doesn’t make sense at all.

James Brandt, New Brighton

My company consisted of about 450 employees, and our management team consisted of 12 managers, including accounting, finance, U.S. sales, international sales, customer support, field service, personnel, manufacturing, quality control, engineering, software, advertising, public relations and maintenance. Our goal was to maximize our efficiency.

So we met every Monday at 10 a.m. with two topics: What will you be doing this upcoming week, and what were your results last week? It was a good solution in that managers laid out their plans for next week and reported their results from the previous week. Every manager was proud of their activity levels. Efficiency is everything for organizations. And it would be equally good for government employees. So I believe that Trump is doing the same thing: asking for organizational efficiency.

Ward Johnson, Edina

The writer is a former chief executive.

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Elon Musk sent emails to federal workers demanding they summarize their accomplishments for the week or be removed from their positions for one reason: to cause pain (“Elon Musk signals more federal firings to come,” Feb. 23). The purpose is pain. Pain is the point. If enough pain is inflicted and the worker quits, great. Pain is nausea. Pain is dry mouth. Pain is rapid breathing. Pain is increased blood pressure and increased heart rate. This is what we feel when someone activates our fight-or-flight response. None of it feels good. We, of course, elected Trump, who believes that to be a great leader you must scare people, you must hurt people, you must cause pain. We knew this. We know this. Musk is no different. Cause enough pain and a person will do what you want them to do. In this case, quit, run. The only question now is: Who has the courage to fight?

Timothy Hennum, Minneapolis

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Federal workers should play Trump and Musk’s game and all quit. Then see what they do.

Terrance Wood, Otsego, Minn.