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How to Signal Virtue
We cannot erase trans and disabled people
In a remarkable press release on February 12, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced investigations into the Minnesota State High High School League (MSHCL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) for violating federal anti-discrimination laws. OCR was claiming to point the sharp edge of Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex and is the reason why so many girls and women now participate in sports. The OCR claims that the MSHCL and CIF are breaking Title IX by allowing trans athletes to compete in women’s sports.
Leave aside for the moment that the Office of Civil Rights is striving to take away the civil rights of trans persons by alleging discrimination against women simply by allowing trans athletes to compete, though it’s not even a remotely clear what that could mean. Also leave aside the fact that the current OCR really doesn’t care that much about defending equality for women: the Department of Ed has reversed the Title IX guidance that required proportional NIL (name, image, and likeness) revenue-sharing between men’s and women’s sports, which will mean that millions of dollars that would have gone to women’s sports will instead go to men’s football and basketball programs. Let’s leave aside the fact that the Trump administration is…
