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In the 1970s, Phyllis Schlafly built herself a massive public platform by being the woman who opposed the women’s liberation movement. She was feted and funded by the male-dominated, rightwing industrial complex as a way to attack women’s demands for legal and cultural equality.
“Ms. Jenner is not a doctor, a scientist, or a lawyer, and she clearly does not understand either the scientific or medical realities that make clear that trans women and girls pose no threat to cis women and girls.”
Today, there is an effort to revive the Phyllis Schlafly playbook by Kardashian parasite and transgender Republican Caitlyn Jenner. The 1976 Olympian is running for governor of California and is using her outsized platform to jump onto the GOP culture war du jour: the efforts to ban trans kids—particularly trans girls—from playing youth sports.
Jenner told a TMZ reporter it’s “a question of fairness.” She went on to say, “That’s why I oppose biological boys who are trans competing in girls’ sports in school. It just isn’t fair. And we have to protect girls’ sports in our schools.”
This is repugnant. Youth sports provide hope and acceptance. For trans youth, who are at greater risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide because of the oppression they face, it is potentially a rare safe space. “To use sports as a way to distract from the hate being perpetuated in our society today is heinous,” wrote NFL free agent RK Russell in a recent op-ed for The Guardian, “but also to use sports to perpetuate hate is the exact opposite of what sports is all about, that love and communion that it’s possible to find.”
Caitlyn Jenner
That’s exactly what Caitlyn Jenner is doing: using the games we love as an instrument of hate, hoping she can “Schlafly” her way into the governor’s mansion.
The terrible irony here is that California is one of just a handful of states that offers full equality and access to sports for trans youth. It has had this law on the books since 2014 and there is no record to show that including trans girls means denying opportunities to anyone else.
As with efforts in recent years to raise fears about trans people using the bathroom, the culture-war fight against trans participation in school sports is an attempt to demonize some of the most powerless people in our society.
I reached out to celebrated transgender triathlete Chris Mosier for his thoughts about Caitlyn Jenner’s pronouncements. “At the end of the day,” he says, “Caitlyn’s opinion means nothing to me. It’s clear this is a political play in her run for governor, and it’s a very predictable 180 from her previous quotes about supporting trans kids. She was never about the community; she’s about her privilege and her own access.”
I also spoke with ACLU attorney Chase Strangio, a fellow contributor to The Progressive, about the wave of anti-trans bills making their way through state legislatures. He sees Jenner’s remarks as helping that process along.
“It is extremely hurtful to hear a wealthy and powerful trans woman not only turn her back on trans youth but demean and undermine the entire trans community with remarks that display a desire to put craven politics ahead of people’s lives,” he says. “That said, Ms. Jenner is not a doctor, a scientist, or a lawyer, and she clearly does not understand either the scientific or medical realities that make clear that trans women and girls pose no threat to cis women and girls.”
One critical difference between Schlafly and Jenner is that the former Olympian, no matter how craven her comments, is unlikely to find acceptance as a trans woman from the Republicans whose favor she seeks.
But the damage is done. As Mosier said to me, “Whether these bills pass or not, the words of the lawmakers, the rightwing media, and the misinformed comments by Caitlyn all contribute to the dangerous environment that trans people who do not have as much privilege as she has, have to navigate each day.”