Remember Tulsi Gabbard?  We haven’t talked about her in months.  Perhaps it’s closer to a year.  She’s the one Hillary accused of being a Russian asset (Tulsi filed a defamation suit, and dropped it four months later).  She’s currently being labeled as “transphobic”, due to legislation she introduced last week.  The bill, called the Protect Women’s Sports Act, would base participation in women’s sports on “biological sex”.  Defending her stance, Gabbard said, “Title IX was designed to give women and girls an equal chance to succeed, including in sports.  Allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports diminishes that equality and takes away from the original intent of Title IX.”  She adds, “It is not a level playing field.” 

While Tulsi is a polarizing figure, it’s an interesting topic.  We’ve discussed it many times in our column, and on a particularly fascinating Billy Masters LIVE with trans pioneer Buck Angel.  What I learned is that male and female sports are not separated for sexual reasons, but for biological reasons.  Caitlyn Jenner may identify as female, but she still has all of the musculoskeletal advantages of Bruce.  So, Tulsi is right – it’s not a level playing field.  That said, it’s also discriminatory.  Ultimately, I don’t have a solution – that’s well beyond my pay grade.

There is a long and complicated history with trans contestants on RuPaul’s Drag Race.  It came to a head in 2018, when RuPaul said Peppermint wouldn’t have been cast if she had already started transitioning (Peppermint made her revelation after taping was completed, but before it aired).  “You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body.  It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing”.  In the face of criticism, Ru retorted, “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics”.  Like the Olympics, Drag Race is an independent show with its own rules.  However, rules are meant to be broken.  When season 13 starts on New Year’s Day, you’ll see the first openly transgender male competitor.  Gottmik is described as an “LA-based celebrity makeup artist”.