thanks, Kara. Kim and Marshi are great. I love the ICONS zooms. Kim made such a cogent and simple statement the last time I heard her speak. I'll have to paraphrase. She said that the decisions by governing bodies against women amounted to saying that men are more important than women. The belief that men are more important than women is so fundamental and so simple, and yet that IS what it all boils down to.
Kim Jones and Marshi Smith are sensational picks. I admire so much how these two women turned their rage and sorrow into focused, concerted action. Thank you, too, for including a link to the WDI audio of Kim Jones. I just listened again, and it had every bit the same impact as when I first heard it. In the last few days, in conversations with people who can’t understand how this issue lost the Ds the election, I have told them Kim Jones’s story as relayed in the audio. Now that I have the audio in hand, I am sending it to them and will continue to do that.
I have made the following comment on the Beutler post I linked. This is what I wrote, and if anyone wants to go over and give it a like, that would be most welcome, as most likely, as happened once before, I will be called a bigot in short order:
I am concerned on reading the comments here that little to no understanding exists of the valid concerns many of us, as liberal and progressive Democrats (I am among the latter) have repeatedly raised regarding the need to protect the female category in sports.
There is a conflict of rights here, and in order to resolve it, we must first recognize it exists, and with that, recognize that it is not just so-called right wing bigots who have these concerns, but also staunch Democrats, among them Martina Navratilova, who have made repeated efforts to get this conversation going, do some real problem solving, and get this behind us.
Here is a way to think about this issue productively, rather than reactively, as has too often been the case.
Title IX Athletics
Issue: Biological girls and women are losing opportunities as the result of an increasing number of biological males competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Proposed Democratic Position: Reserve girls’ and women’s sports only for biological girls and women (including biological girls and women who self-identify as, eg, non-binary) and offer an “open” category in which anyone at all can compete, no matter how they self-identify.
Resources: Martina Navratilova, who has researched, written and spoken extensively on this and can point you to many useful resources. In addition, in the Washington Post, Doriane Lambelet Coleman (the Thomas L. Perkins Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke), offered insightful, fair-minded commentary in the wake of the IOC mishandling of women’s boxing, which also bears strongly on the overall need to protect the female category in sport. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/16/womens-sports-transgender-dsd-olympics/
This is why it is critical for as many people who can to contact not only Moulton and Suozzi, but also to contact our own reps, if other than those two, and tell them we support their position. DIAG has now put out a great call for action on this via email. If you are not on their list, I recommend signing up, as it appears they are going to be doing more of this. That will help us do this in a more concerted way.
I had the pleasure and honor of discovering Marshi and Kim at the same damned time I learned about Kara Dansky (albeit via zoom due to Kara's illness...Kara, your voice is not as husky as I assumed initially!) All at Icons' first conference in Vegas. Changed my life and connected me to not only these three extremely smart, dedicated, fierce women, but to many, many others as well.
thanks, Kara. Kim and Marshi are great. I love the ICONS zooms. Kim made such a cogent and simple statement the last time I heard her speak. I'll have to paraphrase. She said that the decisions by governing bodies against women amounted to saying that men are more important than women. The belief that men are more important than women is so fundamental and so simple, and yet that IS what it all boils down to.
Kim Jones and Marshi Smith are sensational picks. I admire so much how these two women turned their rage and sorrow into focused, concerted action. Thank you, too, for including a link to the WDI audio of Kim Jones. I just listened again, and it had every bit the same impact as when I first heard it. In the last few days, in conversations with people who can’t understand how this issue lost the Ds the election, I have told them Kim Jones’s story as relayed in the audio. Now that I have the audio in hand, I am sending it to them and will continue to do that.
All power to true spartswomen !
Thank you Kara for honoring Kim and Marshi! I am proud member of ICONS leadership team.
FYI: Note the comments on this post. These folks are living in an entirely different universe. https://open.substack.com/pub/brianbeutler/p/the-end-of-litmus-tests?r=16541&utm_medium=ios
I have made the following comment on the Beutler post I linked. This is what I wrote, and if anyone wants to go over and give it a like, that would be most welcome, as most likely, as happened once before, I will be called a bigot in short order:
I am concerned on reading the comments here that little to no understanding exists of the valid concerns many of us, as liberal and progressive Democrats (I am among the latter) have repeatedly raised regarding the need to protect the female category in sports.
There is a conflict of rights here, and in order to resolve it, we must first recognize it exists, and with that, recognize that it is not just so-called right wing bigots who have these concerns, but also staunch Democrats, among them Martina Navratilova, who have made repeated efforts to get this conversation going, do some real problem solving, and get this behind us.
Here is a way to think about this issue productively, rather than reactively, as has too often been the case.
Title IX Athletics
Issue: Biological girls and women are losing opportunities as the result of an increasing number of biological males competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
Proposed Democratic Position: Reserve girls’ and women’s sports only for biological girls and women (including biological girls and women who self-identify as, eg, non-binary) and offer an “open” category in which anyone at all can compete, no matter how they self-identify.
Resources: Martina Navratilova, who has researched, written and spoken extensively on this and can point you to many useful resources. In addition, in the Washington Post, Doriane Lambelet Coleman (the Thomas L. Perkins Distinguished Professor of Law at Duke), offered insightful, fair-minded commentary in the wake of the IOC mishandling of women’s boxing, which also bears strongly on the overall need to protect the female category in sport. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/08/16/womens-sports-transgender-dsd-olympics/
This is why it is critical for as many people who can to contact not only Moulton and Suozzi, but also to contact our own reps, if other than those two, and tell them we support their position. DIAG has now put out a great call for action on this via email. If you are not on their list, I recommend signing up, as it appears they are going to be doing more of this. That will help us do this in a more concerted way.
I had the pleasure and honor of discovering Marshi and Kim at the same damned time I learned about Kara Dansky (albeit via zoom due to Kara's illness...Kara, your voice is not as husky as I assumed initially!) All at Icons' first conference in Vegas. Changed my life and connected me to not only these three extremely smart, dedicated, fierce women, but to many, many others as well.
Proud to know all of you!
Fleming colluding with Jones to injure Slusser is out there. Silence from most media, of course.