PHILADELPHIA (BP) — The transgender revolution has made promises it is unable to deliver and will bring forward many still looking for their identity.
That is a position taken by many applauding a decision by the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), under pressure from the Trump administration, to restore all individual swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost to Lia Thomas in 2022, when the biological male competed for the Penn women’s swim team.
The decision settled a federal civil rights case brought by the U.S. Department of Education. Penn must furthermore announce that it “will not allow males to compete in female athletic programs” while adopting “biology-based” definitions of male and female. The university also agreed to send written apologies to female swimmers who regain their titles.
Simpson Creek Baptist Church in Bridgeport, W.Va., became part of the movement to restore fairness in women’s athletics when one of its members lost her spot on her school track and field team to a male.
“We are committed to the clear biblical view of gender in the public arena,” said Lead Pastor Sean Wegener. “Both special and general revelation attest to the truth that mankind has been created male and female, which until recently has been universally recognized.
“The decision simply reflects the normative belief of Americans, a belief challenged recently by a minority of our citizens. Since Baptists are well acquainted with the tyranny of a majority over a minority, we desire to protect the freedom of a minority voice. We care deeply for everyone created in the image of God, but our care includes proclaiming the truth in love.”
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission President Brent Leatherwood said he hoped the decision begins a trend.
“More higher ed institutions should follow Penn’s lead here and come back to reality, instead of continuing to push this madness on the rest of us,” Leatherwood wrote in a social media post on X.
Activist Riley Gaines tied for fifth with Thomas in the 2022 NCAA 200-yard freestyle finals. Gaines now has that spot to herself.
“UPenn has agreed to right its wrongs, restore records to the rightful female athletes and issue an apology to the women impacted by the man they allowed to compete as a woman,” said Gaines, who now advocates on behalf of women in sports, on X.
During the 2021-22 season, Thomas led Penn to the Ivy League Championships, winning the individual 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events while setting two Ivy League records and three pool records. Records that Thomas helped set as part of the 400-yard and 800-yard relay teams remain.
Wegener said it is the church’s role to proclaim the gospel, which changes hearts and thereby gives “all the safe haven of heaven.
“The transgender ideology has not proven to be a light yoke,” he said. “Its promise of mental freedom and liberation from anxiety comes at the cost of a pound of flesh.
“Our hope isn’t in all the public schools following Penn’s lead. Our hope is that the boys and girls of our public school would know their worth and identity in Christ, so that our schools would no longer feel the tension between inclusion and truth, or safe spaces and safe children.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE — Scott Barkley is chief national correspondent for Baptist Press.)
