VIEW from behind the plow

The best reason I can come up with for the gender confusion of the Woke Left is that most of them must have been city raised.

Country kids know, almost from the time they can walk, the difference in roosters and hens, bulls and cows, stallions and mares, rams and ewes, mothers and fathers, boys and girls … and right on down the list.

I’ll have to admit, though, I’d be hard put to distinguish the ganders from the hens (or whatever you call female geese) in a flock of Canada geese.

It’s sort of like the racism confusion. I thought we’d gotten past such problems with Dr. Martin Luther King’s explanation that we’re supposed to judge others by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

In my opinion, that works perfectly. I’m also of the opinion that the eyes are the windows of the soul.

That also applies to animals as well as humans. You may have heard the expression that a horse has a “good eye.”

That doesn’t mean that one horse sees better than another necessarily, but that the eye reflects the nature of the animal.

I still remember the kind and understanding eyes of my best horse ever, Grace.

She is gone now but I still miss her – just to pat her if nothing else. I often think of the times she kept me in the saddle when I wasn’t paying close enough attention to the way I was riding.

But I digress. I was talking about gender confusion and epithets that get thrown at normal people for not celebrating an individual’s preferred gender identification, if it’s different than the one they were born with.

I thought Title IX was a good deal when it was enacted because it gave equal footing to girls and women in their efforts to excel in athletics, many in an effort to win college scholarships.

Title IX is the commonly used name for the federal civil rights law in the United States that was enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.

The current societal mishmash – just one of many, allows guys who identify as gals to compete against them in many high school and college sports. This gets a lot of publicity these days with men who self-identify as women winning honors in female sports competitions that should have been limited to females only.

Have you noticed that you never hear of a female identifying as male winning an all-male competition?

Could it be males have an advantage physically, even if they’ve taken gender blocking drugs or surgery (or whatever the procedures are)?

I’ve known some fine female athletes who worked hard to achieve scholarships and recognition.

It takes a very confused bureaucrat to see any fairness in the system that has devolved.

Also, girls can’t complain about it or they are harassed and attacked – like former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines who was assaulted recently on the campus of San Francisco State University.

“I was physically assaulted by one person. I was struck twice, both times hitting my shoulder with the second strike grazing my face,” Gaines said. “The rest of the protestors just ambushed and cornered me before I was able to move out with the help of campus police.”

Gaines tied transgender swimmer Lia Thomas for fifth place in the women’s 200-meter freestyle final at the 2022 NCAA swimming and diving championships and has been vocal about her opposition to the inclusion of trans women in women’s swimming.

Gaines’ appearance was “booked by a recognized student organization,” university spokesperson Kent Bravo said, and organized by conservative organization Turning Point USA.

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, said he spoke to three people who were in the room Thursday night.

He said they told him Gaines spoke to a room of people during the event, including individuals who disagreed with her viewpoint. According to those present, Kolvet said the conversation was constructive and polite, and that the disruption happened as the event was wrapping up.

Kolvet was not present Thursday evening but was in communication with Gaines via text while she was brought by campus police into a computer room during the incident, where they remained locked inside while protestors were at the door.

Ultimately, the San Francisco Police Department sent officers to disperse the crowd and escort Gaines out. Gaines reportedly did not leave until close to midnight.

So much for free speech in today’s America. This is not the America I grew up in. It wasn’t perfect but it was sensible in most situations. Sad.