Hello, and welcome to episode 26 of The Spectrum. This was recorded on August 16, 2025. In this episode, we’re going to come up to speed on the current situation in the Shenandoah County Public Schools.

I was not able to follow the events of the last two months directly but in that time the school board added an entire section to policy GBAB/JFHAB: Dignity and Respect for Students that banned transgender students from participating in school athletics with students of the same gender.

This is in a new section H: Athletics

For any athletic program or activity that is separated by sex, the appropriate participation of students shall be determined by sex rather than gender or gender identity. Shenandoah County Public Schools shall provide reasonable modifications to this policy only to the extent required by law.

I am appalled, but not surprised at how quickly they rushed this in. And, just as quickly they want to amend this policy like this:

2. For any athletic program or activity that is designated for female athletes, no biological males shall be permitted to participate, except to the extent that federal law requires otherwise.

3. For any athletic program or activity that is designated for female athletes where biological males are permitted to participate, no female athlete or coach for such team shall be forced to participate in such program or activity.

The new but existing policy was broad. It would affect transgender boys and girls. The new proposed amendments are focused specifically on transgender girls and seem somewhat redundant, at least with respect to the first part of the paragraph.

Aside from the fact that sex is more complicated than they want to admit, this policy, like transgender bathroom bans will have far more collateral damage than an affect on the transgender students simply because they are so few in number. However, any other girl may find herself being challenged.

Here are the remarks I made to the school board:

Many politicians give lip service to protecting girls from boys participating in athletics programs intended for girls. But, the actions they then take have exactly the opposite effect. Instead of protecting girls, it puts every girl under a microscope.

This mindset (when it isn’t rooted in animus towards transgender people) starts with the premise that there is no way a girl can beat a boy in an athletic event. It assumes that girls are always inferior to boys. While it may be true statistically that boys tend to be be stronger or faster once the effects of puberty kick in, it is not universally true. There is a very wide standard deviation. The overlap between the boys and the girls is significant. And, except for elite athletes, the difference is not nearly as large as one might think.

There are plenty of girls that could win an athletic competition against boys. And for pre-pubescent children the statistical difference between boys and girls is smaller, maybe even non-existent, at least for effects due to physical differences.

The actual effect of policies like this will be to subject every girl that excels at sports to extra scrutiny. Instead of being praised for her ability, she will be looked at with a questioning eye. People will think, that must be a boy. There’s no way a girl can be that good.

Let me remind you of Billie Jean King soundly defeating Bobby Riggs. Girls and women are that good.  But your policy declares otherwise.

This is the effect that your policy will have: girls that would have excelled will instead stay away because they don’t want the negative attention. Transgender students will again be told that they do not belong.

Tell me how this protects anyone.

Who is checking on these girls? How will accusations be handled? Is every girl going to be subjected to an inspection before being allowed to compete? If your reaction to that is revulsion, then good. It should be. But, the question remains. You have a policy designed to invite challenges and I want to know how you are going to handle it.

Pre-pubescent transgender girls are no different than other girls. And, if a child has been on puberty blockers then she doesn’t experience the physical changes that might make her a better athlete. Therefore a blanket ban serves no purpose other than to again make transgender students unwelcome in Shenandoah County while making any girl who is larger, stronger, or faster have a target on her back.

Do not enact this change. Remove section H on athletics in its entirety. It is discrimination dressed up as “protecting girls”. It won’t protect them. It will discourage girls from standing out. If you truly care about girls, then enact policies that truly protect all girls.

The things I said in my remarks are true. I totally get that a person’s first reaction might be that it’s not fair to girls to have students who started life as a male competing with them, but when you take the time to peel the onion and learn the reality of the situation, the problem goes away because it isn’t real.

The anti-trans crowd like to stand up and yell about this because it does resonate with people. Everyone wants girls to get a fair shake. I have to admit that my first gut reaction to hearing this  was to think that there might be something to the argument. But, when I examined the facts, I discovered it was a smokescreen designed to make anti-trans bias more acceptable.

If that weren’t bad enough, the regressive fad these days is calling anti-trans bias something about protecting girls and women. But, none of these laws and policies protect anyone. Instead they put a target on any cisgender girl or woman who stands out. About once a week we here about a woman being harassed for using the bathroom. You can expect the same thing to happen here. Some parent who thinks that the tall girl that dominates on the basketball court can’t possibly be a “real girl”. The student from another school that doesn’t want to face that she lost a race accuses another girl of being transgender. It’s not a question of if this will happen but when and how often. These policies are going to hurt the girls they claim to protect. But, that seems to be ok with the people that are so concerned with attacking trans people that they don’t care who gets caught in collateral damage.

If you are in Shenandoah County, please write or call the school board and let them know that you think this is bad policy. You can find links on the website and in the show notes. If you live in another place where this same thing is happening, let your school board know.

Policies like this prove that no student is safe unless all of them are safe.

If you have a story about LGBTQ+ life you would like to share, please contact me at spectrumpodcasthost@gmail.com.

If you’re supportive of LGBTQ+ inclusion in everyday life, please like and subscribe to this content. My goal is to get this visible to those who need to see it who aren’t aware of what’s going on, but when they take the time to find out will actually be sympathetic. The way to do that is to like and subscribe if you’re watching this on YouTube. Thanks!

Until next time, take care. 

Here is a link to the page for the Shenandoah County School Board and their contact info: https://www.shenandoah.k12.va.us/en-US/school-board-98fe2482

Here is the current (as of August 2025) policy GBAB/JFHAB:

These are the proposed changes: