Conservative media have launched a rocket to the topic of transgender athletes as their core culture war topic of discussion for the next two years.
While the debate is much more nuanced than it might sound at times, questions surrounding the fairness of letting transgender athletes who identified as male at birth compete against other female athletes continue to surface.
On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was presented with a question about whether or not transgender athletes present a safety risk and responded accordingly.
During the daily White House press briefing, EWTN White House correspondent Owen Jensen asked Jean-Pierre about growing concerns among parents of female athletes as they compete against transgender athletes.
“What would the president say to parents out there who have daughters, let’s say in high school, for example, who are worried that their daughter may have to compete against a male, a person born male and they could be a direct and physically athletic competition, and worry about their daughter’s safety,” Jensen asked.
“What you’re alluding to is basically saying that transgender kids are dangerous… it sounds like that’s what you’re saying,” Jean-Pierre responded.
Jensen pushed back, saying “I didn’t say that. This is strictly a safety question.”
“Well, you’re saying that their safety is at risk,” Jean-Pierre responded. “You’re laying out a kind of broad example or explanation of what could be potentially happening. That is dangerous. That is a dangerous thing to say that essentially transgender kids are dangerous.
“And so that’s something that I have to call out. That is irresponsible. I had just laid out how complicated this issue is. I had just laid out why it’s complicated, and so anything that you have any additional questions, I refer you to the Department of Education. I’m gonna move on.”
As the ongoing conversation influences the way Americans think about transgender athletes and transgender people in general, these questions and confrontations are only going to continue.
