DAN WOOTTON: How telling it was only the Lionesses that made woke politicians finally admit what it means to be a woman. Their historic victory is why we must now all stand up for women’s sport
Something important struck me in the hours after the Lionesses’ inspiring and historic Euros victory.
So many of the politicians and personalities praising the ladies who secured the trophy have in recent weeks been unable to provide a simple definition of a woman as an adult human female – a position that plunges the very future of women’s sport into jeopardy.
Take Labour leader Keir Starmer who tweeted after the game: ‘The Lionesses, you have inspired a generation of women and girls. My daughter and her friends have strong, successful role models in sport because of you. The entire nation is so proud.’
But that’s the same Slippery Starmer who spent an entire minute on LBC refusing to answer whether a woman could have a penis when he was asked about the travesty of trans swimmer Lia Thomas smashing her biological female rivals in the highly prized American NCAA competition.
What the virtue signalling brigade like Starmer fail to grasp is that by refusing to address fundamental biological questions in a factual manner they are damning sport for girls, including his daughter and her friends, into potential oblivion.
A game like last night’s was so finely balanced that just one player on the pitch for either Germany or England with a penis or even born a biological male but having transitioned and undergone hormone treatment would likely have skewed the result.
England players celebrate with fans during celebrations at Trafalgar Square in London this afternoon
Slippery Starmer who spent an entire minute on LBC refusing to answer whether a woman could have a penis
If we’re not careful and let the woke madness proposed by organisations like Stonewall seep into sport, then it’s highly possible a future Euros could see the Lionesses or their rival made up of 11 muscular players who were born biologically male.
Folk who are saying the Lionesses’ victory should not be dragged into this particular culture war have got it spectacularly wrong.
We must have this conversation today, when women’s sport is rightly in the headlines where it belongs.
Before anyone accuses me of transphobia, as is completely inevitable when you stand up for women’s sport these days, I believe folk have the right to live however they choose and should be treated with the utmost of respect, with the full support of a modern society.
But this is an issue of fairness for girls and women, not inclusion for those who choose to live in a different gender to the one they are born.
I say this as a champion of women’s sport for many decades, especially as a supporter of the London Pulse all-female netball team in the semi-professional Vitality Super League.
LGBT extremists believe that trans women should be able to compete in women’s categories if they can prove they have undergone enough hormone treatment to keep their testosterone levels below a certain point.
But having personally investigated this issue for many months, the science is clear that even years of hormone treatment does little to reverse bodily advantages, including size, bone density and muscular development, that come as a result of male puberty.
Not to mention the disadvantages women have given they have to deal with a monthly menstrual cycle that can impact upon performance.
You only have to look at the real-world examples to see this obvious disparity.
Lia Thomas won first place in the 500-yard freestyle, when just two years earlier as a man she’d come 554th. Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Emma Weyant came second, trailing a whopping 1.75 seconds behind Thomas.
Trans cyclist Emily Bridges became the national junior men’s record holder over 25 miles in 47 minutes and 27 seconds, while Hayley Simmonds, who holds the female senior record in the same event, completed it two minutes slower in 49 minutes and 28 seconds.
Lia Thomas won first place in the 500-yard freestyle, when just two years earlier as a man she’d come 554th
Trans cyclist Emily Bridges became the national junior men’s record holder over 25 miles in 47 minutes and 27 seconds
That’s why Caitlyn Jenner, the most famous trans woman in the world who won an Olympic gold medal as a man, told me: ‘I think to be honest with you they’ve got to change the rules. We need a fair playing field. And right now, if we allow this, it’s not a fair playing field.’
So, taking all of that into consideration, my position is clear: Trans women should be supported by society, but they must not be allowed to compete competitively in any sport.
This is especially important at a moment in time when thousands of young girls across Britain are being inspired to take up football for the first time having followed the Lionesses’ campaign.
I support the position of Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis who introduced a new law last month that bars trans women from playing on girls’ teams at public schools.
‘In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports. We’re going to make sure that that’s the reality,’ DeSantis declared.
Our government is taking a different approach, encouraging sporting bodies to voluntarily sign up to the common-sense position of protecting women, rather than forcing them to do so with new legislation.
When I asked the Secretary of State for Sport Nadine Dorries about the issue recently, she assured me: ‘I am absolutely of the opinion that it is impossible for a trans woman to compete in women’s sport.’
So we are now at the stage where answering a question of basic biology is the difference between whether women’s sport survives or not.
Under a Keir Starmer-led government, it will not, no matter how much he praises the England team this week.
Having seen the tremendous impact the Lionesses have made, we must now all stand up for the rights of biological sportswomen.
Otherwise, our next generation of female footballing world-beaters will understandably be put off kicking a ball in the first place.
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