Olympic Dreams Crushed by Transmania

By Patricia Conlin I remember many years ago, marching in the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona with our Canadian team. It was an experience I will never forget. I had trained for many years as a gymnast and was selected to be a volunteer because of my athletic background and language abilities. I met so many incredible young Canadian athletes who had dedicated countless hours and sacrificed so much to pursue their Olympic dream. It was an amazing memory. Fast forward to 2024 where we are witnessed shocking assaults on Christianity in the Opening ceremonies. Many people even non-Christians found it to be inappropriate as a minimum and even disturbing. What followed is shameful and unnecessary harm done to women who have been forced to compete with biological males in sports. I don’t know who needs to hear this but it’s not anti-LGBTQ++ to want to keep women’s sports for biological females. Not only is it blatantly wrong and unfair but we are risking serious harm to women by letting biological males compete against them. Many athletes sacrifice everything for a chance to compete in the Olympic Games. Let men compete against men and women against women so it’s fair. Hopefully we can all agree that we need to stop what is going on to protect women from getting hurt unnecessarily. Already, we witnessed how Payton McNabb, a 17-year-old, was left with brain damage and paralysis on her right side, which ended her dreams of getting a volleyball college scholarship when a ball spiked by a trans opponent with force struck her in the face, threw her to the ground and shut off her consciousness. We witnessed this week the emotional scene and despair of boxer Angela Carini, who was forced to abandon her fight with a biological male when his blows hit her too hard and made her decide that her health was too important to risk serious injury. Watching a woman’s dreams die because of unfair rules is heartbreaking. How did we get to a place in Canada where gender insanity overrides common sense, safety and fairness? Can we place the blame partly on the education system in Canada that pushes harmful gender ideologies onto children as early as in kindergarten? Can we also place blame on our governments for promoting biological males competing in women’s sports as natural and acceptable under the guise of supporting human rights? Ultimately, we have to place blame as well on ourselves for not standing up and saying “NO” and “This is wrong” early on before a slew of women get hurt or had to end their athletic dreams. Not only is it unfair to allow stronger biological males to compete with women, it is dangerous and sets an extremely dangerous precedent that could end women’s sports as we know it if this insanity is allowed to continue. We must all unite to protect girls and women in sports. Every local, provincial and federal political representative needs to hear from us about the harm being caused. In addition to protecting women in sports, women’s spaces need to be protected as well from predators. We need legislation to force police officers and athletic facilities to comply with rules that protect women. In addition, we need to put pressure on the government to repeal Bill C-4 which removes authority from parents and puts it in the hands of the government when it comes to child gender transitions. Putting children on unsafe hormone blockers like Lupron and affirming mutilation and sterility is not something that should be taken lightly or done without parental consent for minors. Every person is important in Canada including everyone who is in the LQTBQ++ group. Having equal rights is not the safe as being given an unfair advantage or the ability to cause harm to others. New leaders need to be elected to ensure we protect children, girls, women and keep women in women’s sports!!