So it seems people have noticed Trinity’s recent policy change, and have some opinions. Yet with those opinions come some misinformation, which I feel compelled to respond to.

Firstly, let’s look at Colin Houston’s column. The claim that ‘Trinity has capitulated to the culture war’ is, bluntly, ludicrous. Trinity isn’t taking politically motivated action here. They’re complying with NCAA regulations which were in turn complying with an executive order. If you disagree with that executive order, that’s fine — but don’t blame Trinity for doing what they’re required to do. I would also point out that when attempting to secure allies, calling anyone who objects to your position ‘fascists, murderers, slanderers, bigots and liars’ is perhaps a suboptimal strategy.

Moving on to Dylan Wilford’s column, while there are certainly many political actors who use transgender athletes as a talking point to further their own agendas, to tar all objectors with the same brush is a blatant strawman. Many people object to the participation of AMAB athletes in women’s sports on perfectly reasonable scientific grounds. Further, if transphobia was indeed the goal, wouldn’t AFAB athletes participating in the men’s division also be targeted? Yet, to my knowledge, they aren’t — because their transition does not leave them with an unfair advantage.

Scientific evidence for the disparity between transgender women and biological women is abundant. For example, here are two studies from the British Journal of Sports Medicine and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism showing that a measurable difference in performance exists well beyond one year of hormone therapy — to say nothing of permanent biological discrepancies between male and female bodies.

In Colin Houston’s column, they mentioned a series of labels thrown at trans people, including ‘cheaters.’ Does competing in a division where you have an established advantage over the competition not count as cheating? Perhaps the transphobes are not the only ones allowing politics to cloud their judgement.

However, I would be remiss not to amplify some points that were well made. Both Houston and Wilford said something that has needed saying for a while — transgender athletes make up a tiny portion of the population. Politicians have placed a comical overemphasis on this issue to distract from real problems like the ballooning national debt, the climate crisis and the wars abroad.

Additionally, Wilford is right to call the conservatives on their BS with respect to Imane Khelif. For outlets like Fox and Newsmax to claim she was a trans woman without evidence was irresponsible and stupid. Those who continue to perpetuate this falsehood after it was debunked by the IOC are either liars or wilfully ignorant.

Overall, I think both sides of this argument would benefit enormously from taking a step back and letting reason and evidence, not emotion and misinformation, determine policy.