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Letter to the Editor:

The Greater Seattle Summer Swim League (GSSSL) needs your input on the proposal for Gender Inclusion. If the proposal is launched as written, fairness for female sports is no longer safeguarded. Many leagues have already found transgender women who transition post-puberty retain a performance advantage. This leads parents of female swimmers to ask, “How did we get here? How is this fair?”

(Read the original email from the GSSSL HERE*)

This summer, I witnessed something many swim parents have also been privileged to witness. During a GSSSL meet, a female athlete ran to the record board directly out of the pool to check if she beat the record time. The moment was so joyful as she smiled because she did indeed beat the record! She knew in the moment she had swam her best, and she joyfully was able to validate it against the history of female swimmers at her pool. The moment was beautiful and magical, putting so much joy in our daughters’ hearts!

If this gender inclusion proposal goes through, I can already picture the look of defeat on my daughter’s face when she has little hope of achieving a 1st place award. Historically, men are faster than women based on how they were built, not on what gender they identify as. We need to keep the integrity of this sport intact for our daughters’ sake. This should not be taken as anyone being hostile or prejudiced against someone being who they were meant to be. It is only about fairness.

Another thought is how sad the timing on this proposal! The world is already so divided, and I see this as something else to pit families in small communities against each other because they are forced to defend their kids by declaring a public stance on the topic (as if we need something else to tear us apart in these fragile times.) Does everything have to be politicized?

Please participate with a solution so these female record holders’ names are not quickly wiped away with this proposal.

-anonymous

Attached:
Please see The Greater Seattle Summer Swim League (GSSSL) letter.

*This is the original email sent out to parents in the GSSSL. Burien News has redacted personal information to protect privacy.