Looney Tunes at ESPN

Looney Tunes at ESPN

John Hinderaker for Powerline

One of the mysteries of our time is why the sports world has gone woke. Not, surely, in response to popular demand from sports fans. But woke it is, and ESPN leads the way. Maybe this has to do with being owned by Disney, a citadel of leftism. 

In any event, check out this minute of silence during the women’s NCAA basketball tournament. Why the minute of silence? To protest Florida’s new law that says kindergartners through third graders can’t be proselytized in school on behalf of homosexuality and transsexuality. Note the smug self-righteousness with which such a common-sense measure is disparaged:

Okay, groomer. Apparently one of the things “bigger than basketball” is the “civil right” of five year olds to learn about “gender identity” in school. The absurdity of this claim is obvious. 

Who, exactly, thinks it is a good idea to foist such conversations on young children? Other than ESPN, that is–at least one other ESPN host fulminated on air against the Florida law. Certainly most Americans don’t agree. Rasmussen asked the question:

The relevant passage of the new Florida law reads: “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” Would you support or oppose such a law in your state?

In response, 62% of likely voters said they would support such a law in their state, with 50% strongly supporting it. Only 29% would oppose a similar law in their state.

What possesses business organizations like ESPN to aggressively endorse positions held by a small minority of Americans–positions that have nothing whatsoever to do with sports!–and proclaim these unpopular views a matter of “civil rights”? That’s not a rhetorical question. I honestly can’t understand why they do it.

While the Florida law has nothing to do with sports, the career of Lia Thomas does. Thomas went through puberty as a male, and, having reaped the advantages of size, bone structure, musculature and aerobic capacity that go with being a man, has chosen to compete as a “woman” swimmer. He has not undergone surgery, and his intact unit now graces women’s locker rooms.

The entire sports establishment applauds Thomas, cheering him as a trailblazer. The women he competes against know better. After Thomas “won” an NCAA championship event, the second and third place finishers invited the fourth-place woman to the podium for a photo that showed what they think about competing against Thomas:

The essence of liberalism is bullying. You can see this across a broad range of issues–all of them, more or less–but the “trans” fad is a good example. Here, liberals take pleasure in forcing the rest of us to pretend to ignore plain facts of biological science. The response of any sensible person is to just say no.