From LifeSiteNews

By Jonathon Van Maren

Sporting authorities continue to punish those who notice anything unfair while supporting the complete takeover of female leagues.

The entry of trans-identified males into female sports has led to some truly surreal scenes. 

This past weekend, for example, the Miniseries of the Ultimate Pool Group was held in the U.K. As Reduxx reported: “On the women’s side, 64 entrants entered the competition, including two trans-identified males – Harriet Haynes, formerly Chris, and Lucy Smith. By the time of the semi-finals, Haynes and Smith ended up playing off against each other, meaning that there was an all male semi-final in a women’s sport.”  

It isn’t just happening in pool, either. The Flying Bats FC, a soccer team based in Sydney, Australia, broke headlines around the world earlier this year after it was discovered that five of the women’s players…were actually trans-identifying males. Complaints were made by both club officials and parents, to no avail.  

In August, the Daily Mail reported that “the team have capped off an undefeated season in the Women’s Premier League competition which they have won all 16 of their regular season matches while scoring 65 goals and conceding just four in the process by winning the grand final.”  

Six of the victories “won” by the Flying Bats were due to other teams simply forfeiting games, including the two semi-final games, despite the fact that the sport’s governing bodies warned soccer clubs that they would be “punished if they forfeited their games against the Bats” over the trans-identifying players. In response to backlash, club president Jennifer Peden told the press:  

As a club, the Flying Bats FC stand strongly for inclusion, and pride ourselves on safe, respectful and fair play, the promotion of a supportive community for LGBTQIA+ players, officials and supporters, and the significant physical, social and mental health benefits that participation in sport brings, especially to marginalised members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are a club that values our cisgender and transgender players equally. We strongly support the Australian Human Rights Commission’s guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport.

This despite the fact that the Flying Bats have been accused of injuring some female players. There isn’t much recourse for the female players who have seen their sport invaded by men; in the recent ruling Tickle v. Giggle, an Australian court announced that “sex is not confined to being a biological concept.” “Roxanne Tickle,” a man who identifies as a woman, had sued the “Giggle for Girls” app and founder Sall Grover over their female-only membership policy. The Federal Court of Australia ruled that Tickle was unlawfully discriminated against.  

There are few women’s leagues not currently under siege by trans activists. A trans-identified man competed in a female Paralympics event. A man competed in the Canadian Powerlifting Union (although he was suspended for a while after threatening women who voiced disagreement with his participation). In Washington in July, teams with trans-identified males won all three of the top spots in a women’s bike race. Another male nabbed first prize in a female bicycle tournament – two years in a row. Female rugby players from Alberta, Canada, expressed fear when a male was permitted to join their team.  

The Ultimate Pool Group competition, at least, turned out well. Harriet Haynes, the trans-identified male, ended up heading into the finals and playing against Welsh woman Kirsty-Lee Davies. At first, Haynes was winning, leading five frames to two. He only needed one more to win when what was described as a “phenomenal” comeback, Davies won four frames in a row and won the match. 

The man lost; the woman won. Of course, she shouldn’t have had to play him in the first place, and who knows how the competition would have unfolded if men had not been permitted to play. But still, a victory.  

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Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.

His insights have been featured on CTV, Global News, and the CBC, as well as over twenty radio stations. He regularly speaks on a variety of social issues at universities, high schools, churches, and other functions in Canada, the United States, and Europe.

He is the author of The Culture War, Seeing is Believing: Why Our Culture Must Face the Victims of Abortion, Patriots: The Untold Story of Ireland’s Pro-Life Movement, Prairie Lion: The Life and Times of Ted Byfield, and co-author of A Guide to Discussing Assisted Suicide with Blaise Alleyne.

Jonathon serves as the communications director for the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.