Ep 565 ｜ The Women Saving Women's Sports ｜ Guest： Ainsley Erzen
Episode Stats
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Summary
Leah Thomas, the so-called transgender swimmer who is dominating collegiate women s swimming, is allowed to officially compete against other female swimmers at the University of Pennsylvania. Why is this happening? And why does this happen in the first place?
Transcript
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Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Happy Wednesday. This episode is brought to you by our friends
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at Good Ranchers, American meat delivered, craft beef, better than organic chicken shipped
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right to your front door. Go to GoodRanchers.com slash Allie. All right, guys, today we are
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talking about women's sports. We are talking about Leah Thomas, the so-called transgender swimmer
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who, surprise, surprise, is dominating collegiate women's swimming. We're going to talk about
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this developing story, why Leah Thomas is actually able officially to compete. There was an open
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letter that was written by other swimmers anonymously at the University of Pennsylvania
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saying it is not fair for this man to compete against women. So we'll get into that and why
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ultimately it was decided that Leah Thomas is allowed to compete against these female swimmers.
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We will also be talking to a female athlete who will be competing in track at the University of
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Arkansas next year. She wrote this very compelling and articulate article for the Des Moines Register
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talking about the injustice, quite frankly, of men being able to compete against women. She is a
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wonderful advocate for fairness in her sport and it takes a whole lot of bravery to be a young person
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today and to speak out about this issue on the unpopular side about this issue of this issue. She is a
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Christian, so we'll talk about how her faith in God really gave her the strength and the courage to
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speak out about this. But first, let's talk about this Leah Thomas. And to start off, those of you who
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listen to this podcast and who know me and who know my views on this, this is going to be a little bit
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repetitive for you. But for those of you who may be new, I do not use incorrect pronouns to describe
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someone. So that means that I am not going to say that a man is a woman. Biology is not bigotry.
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Therefore, calling a man a he is not bigoted. It's not mean. It's not lacking empathy or compassion.
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Because I am wedded to reality and because I feel an obligation and responsibility to articulate reality,
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I am not going to call Leah Thomas she. That is not because I hate him. That is not because I am
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purposely trying to be inflammatory or rude. It is because I feel an obligation to the truth. Now,
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I will call previously Will Thomas Leah Thomas because someone changing their name, you can change
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your name to anything you want to. And I'll call you that. If you want to call yourself, you know,
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German Shepherd Dog, I will call you German Shepherd Dog. If that is your new name, that's fine. But I am
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not going to actually say that you are a dog. You are a human being. Leah Thomas is a man. So I am going
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to use he him pronouns because I care about reality. And I reject this idea that gender identity,
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so-called, and biology are separate categories. They're simply not. Not biblically, but also not
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scientifically. We have talked many times. We'll link the episode in the description of this episode
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that the so-called, and I'm going to use that phrase a lot today because, again, I'm using the language
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that we are used to in this conversation, but that actually isn't accurate. The so-called science of
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gender identity started in the 1960s. Its philosophical legacy is really hundreds of years old, and we've
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talked about that before. But it is not based in biology. It is not based in any actual science. It is based
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on junk psychology, and it's damaging people, not just the people who are pushed into gender
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transition or pushed into damaging surgeries, but also it is hurting women and girls whose spaces and
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whose athletic competitive events are now being infiltrated by men and boys that they will never
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be able to fairly compete against because gender identities don't compete in sports. Bodies do.
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And boys and girls, men and women's bodies are fundamentally different. We're very similar,
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but we're fundamentally different. I will remind you, again, we've talked about this, about the Duke
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University study that came out a couple years ago. We've cited it on this show, and we will link it again
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so you can read it for yourself. You do not have to take my word for it. It shows that the fastest
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times of the best, fastest female track stars in the world are beat thousands of times,
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are dominated thousands of times by non-elite high school boys every year. This is a summary
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of the study, which again, you should read in depth on your own. Quote, if you know sport,
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you know this beyond a reasonable doubt. There is an average of 10 to 12 percent performance gap
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between elite males and elite females. The gap is smaller between elite females and non-elite males,
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but it is still insurmountable, and that is ultimately what matters. So they talk about how
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an Olympic female track star that the times, the record times that she has is routinely beaten,
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dominated by high school non-elite boys in track. That's pretty incredible. That tells you something
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about the fundamental differences between male and female. The study goes on,
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this differential is not the result of boys and men having a male identity,
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more resources, better training, or superior discipline. It is because they have an androgynized
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body. The results make clear that sex determines win share. Female athletes, here defined as athletes
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with ovaries instead of testes and testosterone levels capable of being produced by the female
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non-androgenized body, are not competitive for the win against males. This is Duke University,
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okay? This is not like AliStuckyNarratives.com, okay? Here defined, are not competitive for the win
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against males. Here defined as athletes with testes and T-levels in the male range. The lowest end of
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the male range is three times higher than the highest end of the female range, consistent with
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females' far lower T-levels. The female range is also very narrow, while the male range is broad.
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Now, maybe you're saying, okay, but if a transgender athlete goes on hormone therapy, so, you know,
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they're on hormone therapy, and so their testosterone levels are lower, doesn't that just even the playing
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field? That means that a man who decides to be on, you know, estrogen hormone therapy for several
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years, that they'll just be the same as any woman. No, no, no. That's not how it works. If you have to,
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first of all, boys are born with far more testosterone than girls. The differences between
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male and female happen in the womb. Then they lower, and boys and girls, when they're young,
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they have similar, not the same, but they have a similar range of testosterone levels. And then
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puberty hits. And then that's when things change very drastically for boys. They start producing a
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lot more testosterone that women never produce. That is what makes their bones more dense. That's
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what gives them anaerobic, higher anaerobic and aerobic capacity. That's what gives them greater muscle
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mass. Also, their brains work differently. And so, if a man goes through puberty, then that means
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that he will never, no matter what surgery that he has, no matter what hormone therapy that he has
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put on, that he has put on, he will never, ever be able to fairly compete against a woman because his
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body has been changed irreversibly, irrevocably when he went through puberty. So, it doesn't matter
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that this person, Will Thomas, has been on some kind of hormone treatment. I mean, if you've seen
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pictures, you can see his shoulders, you can see his muscle mass, you know that this is not a woman.
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And if you're trying to convince yourself in your mind that he is a woman, just stop. Stop. Stop
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trying to buy into the lunacy. You will make yourself absolutely crazy. This is a man competing
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against women. He went through puberty as a man. Therefore, it doesn't matter how much estrogen he
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puts into his body. He will always be a man and it will never be fair for him to compete against a
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woman. You want to know what shows this so hilariously in this clown world that we are living in?
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He was number 462 in men's swimming when he was competing as Will Thomas. Now that he is Leah Thomas,
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he is ranked number one in women's swimming. You think that's just a coinkydink? You think that just
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happened that all of a sudden he just, oh, he just got so much better? No, it's because he is
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competing against women and women are weaker. We don't have the same lung capacity. We have smaller
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hearts. We have smaller muscle mass in general. Our bones are less dense. We just can't do it.
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That does not mean that female athletes aren't amazing and awesome. Of course they are. They
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can't compete against men. We've known this for literally all of human history, guys. For all of
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human history. It's insane. It's insane. It's insane. And you don't have to be insane. Okay? You have a
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choice today, people. You have a choice to be sane. That does not mean that you have to be mean
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to people who believe that they're transgender or who identify as transgender. This is not me
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lacking compassion for people who are confused about their gender. This is me having an abundance
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of compassion, teeming with compassion for the people that this affects. This negatively affects
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female athletes. People who are unable to compete fairly despite the fact that they have worked so
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hard in their events and in their sport. Let me read you a little bit more about what has gone on
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because you'll hear in the media that, well, you know, all of Leah Thomas' teammates are totally
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supportive of him. Of course, the media says her are totally supportive. Like there's no, there's no
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reason what's, why are people freaking out about this? Oh, it's just those white evangelical Trump
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supporters again. All female athletes are totally happy with this. It's all about inclusivity. It's
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all about just being happy. And we're just going to forget that there are any differences between men
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and women. Well, that's not true. There was this open letter signed by 16 pin swimmers that say that
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Leah Thomas should be barred from competition. And they were asking the NCAA to help them out with
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this. So this is from Swimming World. Leah Thomas seated first in three events at this week's Ivy
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League championships. Number two in fourth event. I would love to see how he will come in number two.
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That would be, that would be quite incredible. Of course, that could happen. Of course, that's just
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because a man who identifies as woman might lose an event does not mean that this is all of a sudden
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fair. Like you'll remember the Laurel Hubbard. I think I got kicked off Twitter for saying that
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Laurel Hubbard is a man. But I think he competed in weightlifting for the Olympics over the summer and
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he was unable to like complete the event. And so everyone was like, oh, this means that it's great
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for men to compete against women. Well, I can give you a thousand other examples of it going the other
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way. Um, and so no, this is just a matter of reality. Even if Leah Thomas started losing all
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of his races, it doesn't actually make it fair. He still has a biological advantage over other women.
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So it's just, it doesn't, it really doesn't matter what the outcomes are. Although the outcomes are
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very predictable and expected. It's still the principle of there being very significant differences
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here. And the ACLU would like to say, oh, you know, there are people trying to make sure that
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trans kids, that trans people can't play sports. That's not true at all. I don't think they shouldn't
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be able to play sports. I think that they should be able to play sports against their sex because
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again, bodies compete. Gender identities do not. So this is according to the New York Post about
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the 16 swimmers that said, hey, yo, this is not fair. 16 pin swimmers say Leah Thomas should be barred
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from competition. Unfortunately, the New York Post, as well as some other, um, outlets,
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including Fox news. And I believe I saw on national review and some other outlets, they do
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use she, her pronouns for men. Um, so, you know, so much for the culture war, but New York times
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says that 16 members of the UPenn women's swimming team sent a letter anonymously, uh, to the school
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and to Ivy league officials last Thursday. Well, this is, um, I think a couple of weeks ago now,
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but, uh, to the school and to Ivy league officials last Thursday, asking them to ban Leah from the
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upcoming NCAA championships. Here is part of what the letter says. And of course they're using she,
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her pronouns too. And I will read that. We fully support Leah Thomas in her decision to affirm her
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gender identity and to transition from a man to a woman. I almost think though, that's like a little
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tongue in cheek, because if you really follow like the transgender activism, you're not even allowed
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to say that you're not allowed to say transgender from, or transition from a man to a woman. You have
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to say ridiculous language, like assigned male at, at birth. And now they're having gender confirming
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therapy or gender affirming therapy or something like that. And so this ridiculous Orwellian idea is
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that they've really always been a woman, even though they were, you know, born with a male
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reproductive system, that that doesn't indicate what you actually are. What you actually are is
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what you declare yourself to be, or what you say that you are, you know, when you're, uh, when you
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have a certain feeling at a certain age or whatever it is. So I almost think them even saying transition
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from a man to a woman is them trying to underscore that this is still a man, but they say
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to transition from a man to a woman. Leah has every right to live her life authentically. However,
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what also like, that's so ironic. Authentically, he is a man that is authentically, you can feel a
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certain way. And you can even say that you feel a certain way. You can even ask people to respect
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that you want to identify something that's other than your biology. That doesn't actually,
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that still doesn't change your biology. And just because you are pretending to be something that
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you're not does not mean that everyone else is obligated to pretend along with you.
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Okay. So, however, we also recognize that when it comes to sports competition,
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that the biology of sex is a separate issue from someone's gender identity. They're exactly correct.
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Of course, I don't believe that gender identity and sex are separate, but that goes back to the
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point that we have been making that bodies are competing. Biologically, Leah holds an unfair
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advantage over competition in the women's categories, evidenced by her rankings that have balanced from
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number 462 as a male to number one as a female. If she were to be eligible to compete against us,
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she could now break pin IV and NCAA women's swimming records, feats she could have never done as a male
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athlete. True. So, the letter was sent by Nancy Hogshead McCarr, a 1984 gold medalist in Olympic
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swimming. Good for her. She's also a lawyer and chief executive of Champion Women, which is a women's
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sports advocacy organization. The swimmer slash teammates remained anonymous as they claimed they were
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told they would be removed from the team. Wow. Or that they would never get job offers if they spoke
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out again. Spoke out again about Thomas being a part of women's competition. Again, I know other people
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have made this point. This point has been made many times, but man, the patriarchy strikes again.
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So, women who just want an even playing field, who just want to compete fairly, they can't even speak
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up or they're being told by other men that they will be silenced, they will be kicked off the team,
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and they won't be able to get hired in the future if they speak up for their own right to compete
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fairly. And there are feminists who actually support this kind of thing. Now, to be fair, there are a lot
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of people, a lot of conservatives that I hear, where are the feminists? Where are the feminists?
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There's no feminists talking about that. That's not true. There are a lot of feminists and feminist
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organizations who speak up about this. A lot of them, to be fair, are in the UK. Good for them.
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But there are definitely, there are definitely, well, actually, Meghan Murphy is not even American. I was
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going to say there are American feminists who also speak up about this, like Meghan Murphy,
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whom we've had on this podcast, but she's actually Canadian. But there are, there are feminists who
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speak up against this, even if I really disagree with a lot of the feminists who are speaking up
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against this on a number of different, very important issues like abortion. I just want
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to acknowledge that there are people who identify as feminists who are pushing back against the
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madness that men can become women. So the article goes on to say, earlier last week, a group of
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swimmers on the team released a statement in support of Thomas, which was in reaction to a different
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teammate, telling Fox News that Thomas had a monumental advantage over her teammates and
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competitors. And so there are swimmers on the team who are apparently saying, oh, no, like, we think it's
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great. We think it's great that he's competing. They're saying she, of course. I mean, yeah, because
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it also helps the University of Pennsylvania if they've got like this star, this star athlete.
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So for those swimmers who did sign it, sign the open letter, pushing back against this, but to,
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you know, fear their identities being, their identities being revealed and getting bullied
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and all of that. I mean, if any of you listen to this podcast, know that I support you if that is
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any consolation at all. And I know it can be really scary. I understand why you wanted to remain
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anonymous. I wish you I wish you didn't have to, but I am proud of you for even covertly trying to
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push back against this. Now, this is according to the Daily Mail. Ivy League says transgender
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swimmer Leah Thomas will be eligible to compete in conference championship, but new rules leave her
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participation in the NCAA tournament in doubt. So this article says Thomas University of Pennsylvania
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Senior will be able to compete in the conference final scheduled for February 16th to 19th. So
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obviously that's coming up at Harvard University and Ivy League official told Swimming World magazine
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recent rule changes from the NCAA and USA swimming have thrown Thomas's ability to compete in the
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NCAA championships into doubt. But the Ivy League confirmed that for this season, the new rules do not
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apply to any meets prior to the NCAA tournament. So the new rules, the new guidelines that were revealed by
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USA swimming say. So it gives a more stringent threshold for testosterone in women's swimming.
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The new rule requires transgender swimmers competing in women's meets must show serum testosterone levels
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of less than five nanomole per liter for a continuous period of 36 months. Since since Thomas began
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transitioning less than three years ago, the change could disqualify her. This article says the new
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guidelines did not mention Thomas by name, but were widely seen as making it harder for her to be
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able to compete. So they're saying that now the Ivy League and the NCAA is saying, well, the rules don't
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apply this year. So Leah Thomas can continue to compete. And then of course, since he has been so-called
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transitioning for 33 months by next season, it will be past 36 months. And so, so they're trying to find a
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way to get him to still be able to compete against women. And this is what the New York Times is also
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saying. The NCAA on Friday cleared the way for the swimmer, Leah Thomas, a transgender woman. What does
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that even mean? We don't know who has turned in the top times in the country and two events to compete
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in the NCAA championships next month, saying that implementing new rules for testosterone testing in
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the middle of the season would be unfair to transgender athletes. I love that we're talking
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about unfairness, but only as it pertains to men, not the women that they are competing against.
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Thomas is expected to compete next week. And so that's this week in the Ivy League championships in
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Boston, where she, the New York Times says, will be the favorite in the 200 and 500 freestyle races in
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which she has posted the best marks in the nation this season. Wow. Wow. That's shocking. So
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apparently, um, it, it really doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter what other female swimmers
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say. It really doesn't matter what biology says. This is ideologically politically driven. This is
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what happens when superficial flimsy definitions of empathy. And I use that in air quotes, scare quotes,
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uh, when that takes over rather than logic, rather than any kind of tethering to the truth,
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rather than our understanding of reality and fairness and justice, this is unfairness. This is
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injustice. This is insanity. And so for Christians who are called to be reasonable, who love the bodies
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that God created, who loves the dichotomy of male and female. I mean, again, this is a Genesis
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one issue for Christians. This is just like non-negotiable. This isn't confusing or complex
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for the Christian. Maybe it is to people who adhere to a post modern post truth ideology. But for the
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Christian, again, this is foundational to what it means to be a human. This is, this is rooted in the
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creation order. This is rooted in Genesis one, which is reiterated throughout scripture, which is repeated
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by Jesus himself in Matthew 19, that God made us male and female. There is no biblical category for
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gender identity. And because I believe that we are called not to lie, the most loving thing to do
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is to affirm the reality of male and female. Remember, as we've said many times, God is love. That's,
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that's what we know. We know from scripture that God is love. So if he says something is true,
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then it is loving of us to repeat it. We cannot out love God. We are not love. God is love.
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We cannot out compassion him. So if he says something is true, then it is loving of us to
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simply affirm and to repeat that it is loving of us. Even if the world calls it hate, even if the world
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calls it bigotry to say that a man is a man and a woman is a woman for the sake of the protection of
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women and girls, for the sake of fairness and competition for women and girls, for the sake of
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the safety and security of women's only spaces. I'm talking about prisons. I'm talking about
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bathrooms. I'm talking about locker rooms. I'm talking about women's abuse shelters for the sake
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of their security. We have to acknowledge sex differences and to continue to separate in places
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where it's relevant and competitions where it's relevant, men and women and boys and girls for
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the sake of privacy. And if you want to say this isn't happening, that men are infiltrating these
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spaces, it absolutely is. Men are infiltrating women's prisons and abuse shelters and locker rooms
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and bathrooms. I mean, we hear of these instances happening on at least a monthly basis. Those are
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just the incidents that we know of. So yes, this is happening. And I'm not saying that that
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characterizes every person who identifies as transgender. I'm not saying that at all. But this
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is an issue that will affect the more vulnerable, weaker sex, which is women. I know that in itself is
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controversial to say, but it's simply reality. It's simply true. Christians have an obligation
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to be so clear and so courageous in the truth because not only do we have biology that is urging us
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to adhere to the reality of men and women, but we also have our faith. We also have the biblical
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reality of male and female. We also have the God of the universe on our side. It'll far be it from us
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to go along with the insanity of this culture when we have sanity and theology and biology on our side.
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I know it can be scary to push back against this kind of thing when the bullies come out in full
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force. But as we will see in the interview that you're about to hear, courage begets courage.
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And we have to be the ones to stand up and share the arrows, especially for these young women who are
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speaking out and saying, this is not fair for me to have worked as hard as I have to be an elite
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athlete and to have it all taken from me because a man who has insurmountable advantages is taking the
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records and the titles and the scholarships that I have fought so hard for. That's not fair. So we have
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to be the ones on the front lines who are willing to stand up and say, you know what? You're right.
00:26:42.460
We have to share those arrows and say, that's not fair. And our guest today is doing just that.
00:26:48.880
And I know that her bravery is going to encourage you so much as well.
00:26:58.640
Ainsley, thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell everyone just a little bit
00:27:04.740
Yeah, so I'm a track runner and soccer player. Next year, I'm going to be going to the University
00:27:12.440
of Arkansas to continue doing both of those. That's really exciting. This summer, I ran the 800
00:27:19.080
meters at nationals in Oregon, and I won that and set a state record. So that's kind of what's been
00:27:28.080
That's amazing. Congratulations. You're from Iowa going to the University of Arkansas. That's a great
00:27:34.660
school. And you wrote this opinion piece for the Des Moines Register talking about the biological
00:27:41.220
differences between men and women, especially as is relevant for female athletes. Talk a little bit
00:27:48.960
more about what you wrote and why you wrote it.
00:27:52.980
Yeah, so the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union recently put out a statement in the Gazette saying
00:28:00.980
that they needed kind of advice and just direction on how to handle transgender athletes in women's
00:28:06.740
sports since it's an issue that has been becoming more and more popular. And for anyone who doesn't
00:28:11.700
know, we're one of the only states that has an athletic union specifically for girls. So the fact
00:28:17.880
that this is really their sole purpose and they're not doing their job was definitely something that
00:28:23.180
was really frustrating to me. It doesn't really make sense, to be completely honest.
00:28:27.260
And I think a lot of people in power who kind of have the opportunity to do something about this
00:28:32.960
and whose voices really matter really weren't saying anything. No other girls were really
00:28:38.180
stepping out to say anything. I mean, you look at UPenn, what's happening there with their swim team,
00:28:43.300
all the girls there are too scared to say anything. It's kind of just widespread fear on this issue,
00:28:48.480
I guess. And so I knew I had just a little bit of a platform through running, through social media.
00:28:54.620
So I just wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to use my voice to speak out if no one
00:29:00.120
else was going to. Tell us a little bit about the work that goes into being an athlete at your
00:29:06.660
level, because I was not an athlete. That is just not a gift that God gave me. And so honestly,
00:29:13.840
I don't really know all of the time and the dedication and the sacrifice that goes in
00:29:18.700
to being an athlete that is good enough to compete at the collegiate level. So just tell us kind of
00:29:24.860
about what your routine has been since you really started running at this level.
00:29:30.420
Yeah, well, I train six days a week. A typical day for me, I usually have, you know, either weights
00:29:37.080
or some sort of like speed and agility practice before school in the morning. So waking up at like
00:29:41.820
530 for that. And then when I get home from school, typically in the spring, I'll go straight
00:29:48.240
to track practice. I usually have about a seven mile run. And then from there, I'll change real
00:29:52.960
quick and then walk over to soccer practice. So it's a pretty busy schedule. But my younger sister,
00:30:00.100
she does both track and soccer with me. So and I have a lot of coaches and teammates that are just
00:30:05.940
really, really supportive and understanding of how much I'm trying to juggle. So it definitely
00:30:10.900
takes an army, but I definitely have that. So yeah, you've committed a lot of your time and your
00:30:17.620
energy to this. How does it make you feel the possibility of competing against males when you
00:30:27.240
get to college? Is that like demoralizing or deflating? Tell us a little bit more about those
00:30:32.420
emotions and reaction to that. For sure. I think for me, sports have always been
00:30:40.700
something that I've kind of had to hand over to God. When I first started running in middle school,
00:30:45.360
I honestly hated it because it's hard. It's so hard. And you go into the races knowing that you're
00:30:52.000
going to feel awful during it and you just kind of have to suck it up and do your best. So that was
00:30:56.420
something when I was younger, I just couldn't quite, I couldn't handle. I would get so nervous. I would
00:31:01.520
just feel sick the whole day because I just knew what was coming. And as I got older and I kind of grew
00:31:07.360
in my faith also, I've just found joy in running because even though there is suffering, you know,
00:31:13.840
you're doing it with your teammates, your, your family's there for you, your coaches are there
00:31:17.240
for you. And I just kind of be able to put my, put my faith in God and, and know that as long as I
00:31:22.360
give my best, that's going to be, be good enough with whatever he gives me in my legs that day. So
00:31:27.200
then knowing that, you know, a biological man could come into my race and no matter how hard
00:31:34.000
I work, he is just better. He's built different and God made him different there. Obviously,
00:31:38.840
you know, there are so many factors that go into that. We really shouldn't even have to be talking
00:31:42.620
about it. Um, that really, I think takes away the true meaning behind sports and why so many girls
00:31:48.560
love to do it. I mean, all of the girls that I've met through track and field and soccer are all
00:31:52.520
hardworking majority of them, Christian girls that, that trust that if they work hard and they
00:31:57.840
dream big, that, that God will help them accomplish those goals. And if we allow these men to come into
00:32:03.220
our races, our soccer games, our swim meets, any of those things, um, that kind of defeats that
00:32:08.540
purpose and takes away those opportunities. Yes. And that was something that you wrote in this piece,
00:32:13.460
which is really well written. So great job on that. You say, if you try to ignore biological
00:32:18.680
differences, I guarantee there will be nothing left of women's sports. There will be no more
00:32:23.560
Sydney McLaughlin's, which who is awesome, by the way, I love following her on Instagram.
00:32:27.680
No, Serena Williams is who herself, by the way, she said several years ago is amazing as she is.
00:32:33.600
If she tried to compete against Andy Murray or any other tennis player, even a tennis player that
00:32:39.420
is not as elite as she is in men's sports that she would lose every time. So even she, this powerhouse
00:32:46.680
of an athlete is admitting that she can't compete against men because as you said, there are
00:32:50.900
biological differences, no Abby Wambachs, no female athletes that will be able to take the title
00:32:58.280
of best, whatever it is. How does that, how does that make you feel the, the idea that maybe there
00:33:06.800
will be no more truly women's sports anymore? Uh, yeah, it definitely is very demoralizing,
00:33:14.600
I think for all women. And, um, it's not really just even about the girls that are competing right
00:33:20.140
now. It's about the women that came before us. It's about all the little girls that will,
00:33:24.060
you know, come to compete in the future. And, you know, this summer, as I mentioned, I, um,
00:33:28.880
set the state record in the 800 and, um, that was a record before that, you know, Joy Ripslinger
00:33:34.220
and Shelby Houlihan, those women had, had set for me. And obviously it was an extremely fast time.
00:33:39.480
They are so extremely talented and I'm so lucky that they were from Iowa and kind of set that
00:33:44.780
standard for Iowa girls. But it's a time that was achievable. And I think if we have these, um,
00:33:51.700
males coming up in the future that are allowed to compete with women, they're going to be setting
00:33:55.380
times that are so far out of reach for girls. And that's not a knock on girls. That is just,
00:34:00.860
you know, um, an acceptance of the reality that men are different. And they're going to be setting
00:34:06.080
times that no girl, no girl can achieve no matter how hard she works. And so that's definitely very
00:34:11.440
frustrating and definitely, um, going to lead to some of that destruction of women's sports that I
00:34:15.900
mentioned in the article. Yep. Bodies compete, so-called gender identities don't, and that's
00:34:21.680
what matters. And as you say in the article, that shouldn't even have to be said, there should be more
00:34:26.680
people speaking up. Well, I'm so thankful for you. I know it takes a lot of courage to talk about this
00:34:32.960
because it's unpopular to talk about. Have you had any blowback, any pushback, or have you mostly
00:34:41.320
had support? Uh, yeah, I've definitely had a lot of both. Um, I think that the tough thing is though
00:34:49.520
that a lot of the people that support me are quiet. Um, and so that, that's pretty tough. And the, the
00:34:56.160
people that don't support me are very, very loud and very consistent in voicing that. And, you know,
00:35:01.240
it's no fun to, to go on my phone and see like all of these horrible things being said about me. But
00:35:06.580
at the end of the day, um, everything they're saying are like personal attacks on my character,
00:35:11.440
um, my faith, um, name calling, say I'm homophobic, transphobic. Um, I'm just scared of losing. And
00:35:18.720
as hard as it is to see those things, you know, I know my heart. I know everyone that knows me knows
00:35:23.420
my heart. God knows my heart, which is most important at the end of the day. And the fact that
00:35:27.540
they can't think of anything else to say, you know, but, but name calling and those personal
00:35:31.900
attacks, I think tells me that I'm doing something right at the end of the day. And, um, you know,
00:35:37.040
even though that's not fun to see, I think what bothers me the most is just knowing how big of an
00:35:42.740
issue this is and knowing how many people this impacts. And, um, I just want to make sure I'm
00:35:47.680
doing it justice because I know it is such an important issue. And I know that God has kind of
00:35:52.080
put it on my heart for a reason. And I don't feel like I'm the best person to kind of stand up for
00:35:57.400
this. You know, there are people that are smarter than me. There are people that are stronger than
00:36:01.060
me, just more knowledgeable, um, more articulate, can just deal with these issues better. Um,
00:36:06.940
and I, I don't feel that like that person quite honestly, but at the end of the day, I'm the one
00:36:10.900
that was willing to speak up. So, um, I've just been kind of trying to trust that, um, because I was
00:36:15.800
willing to do that. God will kind of, um, help put the things in me that I need to really carry
00:36:21.540
this message. Well, I know that you don't know me. And so this doesn't carry a lot of weight,
00:36:26.420
but I'm super proud of you and inspired by you. And truly courage is contagious. Courage begets
00:36:33.280
courage. So maybe you don't think that you're the best person, but as you said, and I know you
00:36:38.500
already know this, God does equip the people that he calls. He doesn't necessarily call the people
00:36:44.360
that might seem to the rest of the world, like they are the ones that he should call, like the ones who
00:36:50.360
are equipped, but he will equip you because he has called you to this and your courage is in itself
00:36:56.260
obedience and it will bring glory to God because of that. And I love your humility as well. Um,
00:37:03.180
it really is inspiring. So thank you for having the bravery in the midst of expected pushback and
00:37:09.840
blowback and name calling. I know that you've got thick skin. That's part of being an athlete at your
00:37:15.100
level, but also no one likes, no one likes to be treated that way. No one likes to be named called
00:37:20.920
as confident as anyone is. It's just not fun. So thank you for enduring that. Is there any where,
00:37:28.120
and it's okay if there's not, but if, is there any way that people can reach out to you or follow you
00:37:33.880
to send you just words of encouragement and support? Because there are thousands of people,
00:37:39.980
tens of thousands of people who are going to be listening to this,
00:37:42.720
watching this, who are going to want to support you. Is there any way for people to do that?
00:37:49.080
Uh, yeah, well, my Instagram is Ainsley underscore Erzin and, um, I, I really have been getting so much
00:37:54.800
support from people there. Just lots of DMs, lots of, lots of super nice messages, just encouraging me
00:38:00.160
and, um, kind of reminding me that, um, to stay strong in my faith that, that God, um, will back truth.
00:38:06.160
He is truth. Um, so that really has been really helpful and has been something that's
00:38:10.720
really encouraged me and kept me going. Good. Well, thank you so much, Ainsley. Thanks for taking
00:38:29.560
Okay, guys, as I said, at the end of yesterday's episode, Friday, we are going to have a bonus
00:38:35.760
birthday episode. I am turning 30 years old. Um, I have mixed feelings about turning 30.
00:38:43.020
It's a little, I don't know. It's just, it's a little weird. I mean, I'm thankful for every year
00:38:47.320
that God has given me. Absolutely. And so much happened in my twenties. And I'll talk more about
00:38:52.200
that on Friday that I'm very thankful for. And I just love the life that God has given me. But
00:38:58.120
30 just sounds really old. It just sounds really old to no longer be in my twenties. And so as I said
00:39:05.880
on Instagram, I'm really going to milk it the next few days to talk about as someone who's just in
00:39:12.000
my twenties, as a 20 something, as someone who's, you know, in my late, late twenties. So I'm going
00:39:19.380
to do that while I can. So you can expect that. Also, if you love this podcast, please leave us a
00:39:24.000
five-star review on Apple podcast. That would mean a whole lot. All right. I will see you guys back