The Biden administration continues to deny science -- this time, through the Department of Education. At a hearing last Thursday, Rep. Mary Miller questioned Education Secretary Miguel Cardona after his department claimed that affirming the biological and scientific reality of male and female in sporting events was "harassment." In an effort to safeguard teachers' ability to speak the truth, Rep. Miller asked Secretary Cardona to clarify how many "genders" there are.
Unfortunately, Secretary Cardona could not -- or would not, as FRC's Meg Kilgannon pointed out on Washington Watch -- answer the question. "He acknowledged that he knew exactly what she was asking him and he refused to answer . . . We all know that there are two sexes. God created them male and female, as you read from Scripture," and that truth "is confirmed by plenty of science, by DNA chromosomes," Kilgannon stated.
Instead of affirming that reality, Cardona heatedly responded, "It's our responsibility to protect all students...I won't be answering your question, you can continue your line of questioning."
As Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona is responsible for advising the President on federal policies and programs related to education, but it appears he wants to use the education system to promote what Tony Perkins observed was "nothing more than sexual confusion."
To show the ridiculousness of Cardona's position, Rep. Miller displayed a photograph of the former women's basketball team at Mission College. One member of this team, Gabrielle Ludwig, was a 6-foot-6 biological male, former college men's basketball player, who at age fifty decided to play basketball again -- this time on the Mission College women's team!
As a former Division I basketball walk-on at the University of Notre Dame, I can personally attest to the differences between male and female athletes. In fact, in the three years leading up to my walk-on tryout, in an effort to get better, I played pick-up basketball at the intramural building against men. In order to be good enough to "hang" with the guys, I did a separate set of drills every day hoping to improve my skill level. Each summer, I spent multiple hours a day honing my abilities. Still, when I would return to campus, the men I played against -- most of whom had not picked up a basketball since the previous school year -- were bigger, stronger, faster, and quicker than me -- and regardless of how much I had improved since the previous year, because of those biological differences, they were still better.
I walked on to the second best women's basketball team in the country, but if I had had to compete against even just one man whose only basketball aspirations were to play pick-up at the intramural hall, I would have never made the team.
Secretary Cardona told Rep. Miller that she was missing the point, that students need to feel welcome in our schools and we need to create welcoming environments. He said that sports are opportunities for students to "set goals for themselves and continue to thrive." He continued, "I don't promote any type of discrimination against any students, and Title IX reinforces that."
Sadly, it's Secretary Cardona who has missed the point. The very purpose of Title IX was to prevent people from being denied educational opportunities -- including the opportunity to play sports -- based on their sex. Every spot taken on a women's team by a biological male is a spot that should have gone to a woman -- a woman who worked hard, who developed her athletic talent to the best of her ability, and who -- because of biological differences -- simply could not beat out a man.
When it comes to the ability of these women to "set goals for themselves and continue to thrive," it seems Secretary Cardona would rather they come in second and call it being "welcoming."
