Whose sport is it anyway?

John Oliver's Alternative Facts

John Oliver opened his show “Last Week Tonight” on April 6th by laughing at the coverage on Fox News of a female fencer taking the knee rather than compete against a man. This stuff is an “absolute fixation of the right,” he sneered. Why are they discussing this non-issue when markets are crashing? was his spiel. So he naturally turned to discuss the economy. Only kidding. He spent his entire show discussing why boys who “identify” as girls have every right to be in girls’ sport. Of course, he called these boys “trans girls,” which may make the claim sound less ridiculous.

Having chosen to frame the subject as “trans athletes” – instead of protecting women’s and girls’ sport -- Oliver referred to Trump’s warning that he would cut off Maine’s federal funding for defying his Executive Order on protecting women’s and girls’ sport in spite of the fact that “only two transgender girls” in that state are competing this school year.

The numbers game, as many have pointed out, is irrelevant. Only two “transgender women” competed in a professional women’s pool event held this past week: in a graphic demonstration of the unfairness of their participation, these men ended up playing each other in the finals. Oliver sneers at those who warn of the end of women’s sport. The obvious message is: he does not care what this is doing to women and girls, and those of us who do care are right-wing bigots.

Oliver displayed a map of the States that have passed legislation to protect women’s and girls’ sport. Then we get the pull on the heartstrings: “For trans kids impacted by these bans, who just want to play sports with their friends, it’s been hard.” And we move to a fifteen-year-old boy who identifies as a girl explaining how hard it is. It goes without saying that we don’t hear from any of the girls who have found it hard to be forced to compete against boys. Later on, we see a clip of another trans-identifying boy who says: “Playing on the boys’ team would be a lie.” That is the upside-down world that John Oliver and all like him are trying to sell society: that for this boy to play with other boys would be a lie. His own “alternative facts” say that he is a girl. And other people – the girls -- have to suck it up.

Oliver promises to tell us the facts. One fact he gives us – gazing earnestly into the camera -- is the straw man: “It is not the case that any man is going to be stronger or more athletic than every woman.” Who’d have thunk it? Then he pokes fun at the notion that anyone who would “transition” just for the sake of sport – another irrelevancy.

He says: “we spoke to scientists on all sides of this issue.” Really…. He says there is too little evidence on the athletic advantage of males who have “transitioned” to women. This is nonsense. It could easily have been refuted if he had brought leading sports scientists onto the show -- like Professor Ross Tucker or Dr Linda Blade. Instead, we hear from the trans-identifying researcher Joanna Harper.

On the male swimmer Lia Thomas, Oliver has the chutzpah to suggest that far from taking anything from Riley Gaines, he “gave a lot to” her since Gaines has become a successful activist instead of going to dental school.

The next subject is safety. Oliver downplays the well-known case of the athlete who was badly injured by a spike aimed at her by a male player. He tries to suggest a similar injury could just as easily have resulted from a female player. He fails to mention that a volleyball net is 7½ inches lower in the women’s game to reflect differences in average height and jumping ability. He jokes about the use of the term "kill shot" in this context, since the player is very much alive. In fact, of course, a “kill shot” is simply a volleyball term for an unreturnable attack or spike.

Towards the end, Oliver gets to a really ugly talking point: he quotes with agreement a conservative saying that what the sports issue has done for the right is “it got opponents of the LGBGT movement comfortable with talking about transgender issues.” It seems to me rather that what the “trans rights” movement has done is it has gotten misogynists comfortable with mocking and attacking women’s and girls’ rights. Looking at you, John.

The show ends with the usual hyperbole: the sports argument is supposedly being used to “advance the eradication of trans people generally.” This mischaracterization of those who are trying to protect women’s and girls’ sport reminds me of the chair of California State Assembly, Rick Chavez Zbur, who spoke in similar terms last week when opposing a bill to protect women’s and girls’ sport. After dozens of people had stepped up in support of the bill, including many young girls, some still in grade school, he denounced it and compared its supporters to Nazis. He saw those little girls who had come to stand up for their rights and compared them to Nazis. He would get on well with John Oliver.