In the 1992 Supreme Court case, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the following notorious passage in the plurality opinion: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.” While the case addressed abortion, Kennedy’s specious “sweet mystery of life passage,” as the late Justice Antonin Scalia ridiculed it, has profound resonance for all sorts of pernicious ideology, including transgender dogma. In Casey, Kennedy articulated a false and dangerous theory that permeates much of American public life. And it is the basis for the erasure of women.
Kennedy’s assertion necessarily implies that there’s no such thing as objective reality existing outside the subjective mind or experience of a moral agent. Applied to the transgender issue, it means that “gender” is nothing other than any individual’s assertion of how he or she “identifies,” that is, how one “defines one’s own concept of existence.” According to this viewpoint, variously known as “non-essentialism” or “social constructivism,” nothing is real except my individual assertion — my “identity.” And because nothing exists to discern which individual declaration is true and which is false, Kennedy’s quote is an expression of the nihilism that permeates American public life.
We have seen the fruits of this ideology as it applies to the transgender cult in the United States in just the past few weeks. Kennedy’s position is high-octane fuel for the transgender locomotive. Taken up by transgender cultists, this malignant, pernicious ideology produces vile results. It denies the rights of girls and women to equal access to athletic opportunities and safe single-sex spaces. In short, transgender ideology erases women. Several examples from American high school athletic competitions in the spring 2025 season illustrate the point.
Transgender ideology in action
AB Hernandez is a 5’9″ boy who is a poor-to-mediocre track and field athlete. His best distances in the long jump and triple jump, and his best height in the high jump, would not qualify for many high school boys’ varsity teams in the U.S. And he certainly would never qualify for the state championship finals in any state. As of May 2025, however, he has been declared the California state champion in high jump and triple jump, and the runner-up in long jump. This is because he competes in what was once known as the girls’ division. But California, like other states noted below, has eliminated the girls’ division by denying girls equal access to athletic competitions. California allows boys and men like AB Hernandez to “define their own concept of existence.” Never mind that it erases the athletic existence of every high school girl in California.
It is important to note that in the eleventh hour California added girls to the state championship field who had been eliminated by Hernandez in a qualifying meet. And at the state meet, the same places were awarded to the best (and second-best) girl as to Hernandez. This was an attempt to appease the U.S. departments of Justice and Education, which have threatened to deny federal funds to California for its blatant violation of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the 1972 Education Amendments. Of course, this “solution” is ludicrous. The modification acknowledges that Hernandez has an unfair advantage over girls while continuing to allow him to dominate and bully them. The new policy makes the ideology more, not less, absurd. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has said that it is “unfair” to allow boys to dominate girls in sports. But he continues to support California’s immoral scheme. Denial of girls’ athletic opportunities is official policy in California.
Charlie Rothenberger (who calls himself Marissa) is a 16-year-old, 6-foot-tall softball pitcher in a Minnesota high school. Softball, you say, isn’t that a girls’ sport? Indeed it is. And Charlie Rothenberger has dominated girls’ softball teams, taking his team to the state championship nearly single-handedly. Over five games in the state tournament, Charlie pitched 35 innings, giving up only two runs, and shutting out the defending state champions twice. It was the most dominant pitching performance in Minnesota high school history. And, of course, it is cheating. But it is cheating with the complicity of the legislature and governor of Minnesota, who have denied equal rights and opportunities for girls in their states.
Charlie Rothenberger would have absolutely no chance of making his high school varsity baseball team. But because of all the advantages of his male physiology, he bullies girls in softball, all the way to the state championship. And he does it with the enthusiastic support of Tim Walz and the Minnesota legislature. Charlie has “defined his own concept of existence.” And in the process, he has denied the existence of softball as an opportunity for Minnesota girls. Which is another way of saying that he has denied the existence of girl athletes. Denial of girls’ athletic opportunities is official policy in Minnesota.
Donovan Brown is a 16-year-old boy in the state of Washington who calls himself Veronica Garcia and competes in track and field. His specialty is the 400 meters. His best times would not make most boys’ varsity track teams, and would certainly not qualify him for any championship meets. Donovan has been declared a two-time Washington state champion in the 400 meters. In a race usually decided by tenths of a second, he won the 400 two years in a row by more than a second. And, of course, he was competing against girls. His winning time was 55.70 seconds. The 16th-place time in the boys’ division was 54.47. The boys’ champion ran 49.07. Donovan Brown’s time would not have qualified for the state meet at all. Denial of girls’ athletic opportunities is official policy in Washington.
No compromise is possible
There are many other examples in the approximately 25 states that deny girls’ athletic opportunities, but you get the picture. Maine, Oregon, Colorado and Illinois are among the most prominent examples. Let’s not mince words about the implications of these policies. Allowing boys to compete against girls eliminates girls’ athletics. These policies turn illegal discrimination into legally mandated discrimination. In these states, exclusion of women is not merely tolerated; it is required. Misogyny and the erasure of women is official policy. Denial of equal opportunities is required by law. Of course, this is vile. But it is the inevitable result when we “define our own concept of existence.”
There are glimmers of hope that the insanity is slowing down. The Trump administration has fired shots across the bows of these states, demanding that they comply with Title IX or risk losing billions of dollars in federal funds. International sports federations have recently issued strong policies protecting the integrity of women’s athletics. These include World Athletics (governing track and field), Union Cycliste Internationale (governing international cycling), World Aquatics (governing swimming) and the International Boxing Federation.
Bullying, name-calling and discrimination have no place in this discussion. People with gender dysphoria deserve compassion and sympathy. They have the same dignity as everyone else. But we cannot confuse the mandate to treat all people with dignity with a poisonous ideology that denies the existence of women’s athletics. We do no service to anyone by lying to them about the nature of the human person. And we deny the dignity — indeed the existence — of women and girls when we allow vile, pernicious transgender ideology to “define the concept of existence.”
“God created humankind in his image … male and female he created them,” explains Genesis 1:27. No amount of “defining one’s own concept of existence” can change this given reality. Male and female are equal before God and one another. But they are not equivalent, especially physiologically. There is no middle ground to the issue as it pertains to sports. There’s a rational position, rooted in science and objective biological, genetic and physiological reality. And there are nihilistic ideologues, who wish to impose their denial of reality on everyone by force and violence. There are those who want to protect girls and women and those who want to erase them. There can be no compromise.
