David Inoue
Lia Thomas has become a household name. But if you don’t know who she is, Thomas is a swimmer at the University of Pennsylvania who now identifies herself as female having been born biologically male.
As a swim competitor, she has set numerous new women’s swimming records for her school and the Ivy League. However, there has been significant outcry that she has an unfair advantage as having gone through puberty as a male.
I am pretty sure she never wanted to be thrust into the spotlight as she has been, but such is the case when some people encounter something not fully understood.
I am careful to not say transgender people are something new. They are not. We have had transgender people among us for all of history — we just never acknowledged their presence or even allowed them to make themselves known. With all the vitriol now directed at Thomas, it is understandable.
What is often telling about the hate and anger directed at Thomas is the intentional misuse of pronouns. Diving into the swimming news sites covering this, and the comment sections reveal hundreds of posts by people angrily declaring that “he” should not be allowed to compete with women.
To deny Thomas’ identity as a woman by referring to her as he is to take away her humanity and identity.
Lia Thomas is one specific individual targeted in what has become a culture war, a war of values between those who want to promote hate vs. those who want to recognize the humanity of every individual person and all that they represent.
We see it being played out from local school boards to state legislatures, with policies seeking to erase the presence of those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Enacting policies such as these does not and will not change the fact that our children have friends whose parents openly identify in these categories, and some of our children will likely identify differently from the heterosexual cisgender societal norm.
As can be expected today, some reporting on the legislation have tried to downplay the severity of the legislation and taken the position that “both sides are distorting the truth” and have tried to imply that the legislation is extremely vague in what it prescribes.
However, very clearly in the text is the following: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
That is about as clear as can be that teachers or other instructors may not discuss sexual orientation or gender identity to early elementary students. Does the teacher then need to be silent when a child talks about their two dads?
Of course, the Florida legislature has taken it further in expanding its prohibitions on what can be discussed in school to include the Stop the Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees (W.O.K.E.) Act.
This is a much more expansive bill that would limit the ability of not only schools but also employers, licensing examiners, amongst many others, from teaching concepts such as white privilege and systemic racism. This could have a chilling effect on core diversity training programs at employers across the state.
Ultimately, these policies are attempts to legislate against changing societal norms. We have always existed in a white male heterosexual Christian normative society. Debates around a woman’s right to choose, transgender rights and the existence of white privilege and systemic racism would have never existed years ago because such perspectives were ignored or suppressed. The fact that we can have these conversations is a step in the right direction.
The It Gets Better campaign holds the promise that things will improve, but not if we allow legislation that continues to marginalize and suppress the stories and experiences of minority people.
Things may be more comfortable for those who have been seen as the norm, but what does that mean for those of us who are outside that definition of normal? Hopefully, after the NCAA swimming championships are completed, Lia Thomas will be able to live her best life as a senior in college, free from the harassment and vitriol from a public that fears the change that she represents because what we used to think was “normal” is no longer.
David Inoue is executive director of the JACL. He is based in the organization’s Washington, D.C., office.
