An injury on a high school girls basketball team is another reminder of why Title IX exists and why the definition of “sex” is not up for interpretation.
A high school girls basketball team decided to forfeit a game earlier this month after a male athlete playing for the other team injured one of the young women.
The game was between Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in Massachusetts and KIPP Academy in Lynn, Massachusetts. A male who identifies as female plays on KIPP Academy’s girls basketball team, and during the game, he wrestled with one of the other team’s female players for the ball. Video shows the female player from Collegiate Charter School of Lowell falling to the ground after the exchange and holding her back in pain.
Two other players from the Lowell high school got hurt earlier in the game, but it’s unclear whether their injuries were caused by the male player as well.
At halftime, the coach of Collegiate Charter School of Lowell made the decision to forfeit the Feb. 8 game against KIPP Academy. Fox News reported that the team’s playoff games were scheduled soon and, recognizing that the team couldn’t afford to have any more players injured, the coach made the decision to forfeit.
In Massachusetts, a student can play on a “team that is consistent with the student’s bona fide gender identity,” according to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association handbook.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a female athlete has been physically injured competing against a male.
A North Carolina high school volleyball player suffered a neck injury and concussion during a game in 2022 after a male who identifies as female spiked a ball and hit her in the face.
In 2023, a female athlete was injured by a male during a field hockey game in Massachusetts when the female was struck in the face with the ball and had her teeth knocked out.
Even with the injuries mounting against female athletes competing against men, the Biden administration is continuing to promote policies that would allow men to compete against women.
Early in his administration, President Joe Biden proposed changing the definition of the word “sex” in Title IX, a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972 that prevents discrimination on the basis of sex within public education. Biden would redefine sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation.
Under that proposed change, boys and men who identify as girls and women would be permitted to use females’ restrooms and locker rooms at school and to participate on their sports teams.
The debate over the change is ongoing, and Sarah Parshall Perry, senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation, joins the “Problematic Women” podcast to explain the latest in the fight over Title IX and why the battle to protect women’s sports is far from over. The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.
Also on today’s show, we discuss a ruling by Alabama’s Supreme Court that declares frozen embryos are children. And former President Donald Trump is facing many legal challenges. We explain how one of the cases could affect voters. And as always, we crown our “Problematic Woman of the Week.”
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