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by Aaron Warner
Hartford High School released its March newsletter sent out to all of the students and parents in the district. The monthly newsletter offers insight into a few of the key things the school is doing or focusing on that month ranging from special recognition to other in-house features concerning student options to purportedly enhance learning. This issue includes recognizing a one act play making it to state, the student council blood drive and music team entrants to the state competition. The last third of the newsletter focused on Transgender Visibility Day (March 31st) and made claims regarding both the Trump administration’s recent Executive Decision to “Keep Men Out of Women’s Sports” which is the will of roughly 70% of Americans, as well as unfounded claims stating essentially there are no scientifically proven differences between young men and women, but rather the real grievance is sexism and racism.
Transgender “women” athletes (teenage boys or men) have been raising concerns for female students and parents throughout the country with the questions of fairness and safety for biological girls/women. Riding in on the cultural Marxist panoply of issues from race to sexual orientation schools have been inundated with cultural issues taking precedence over basic academia. As a result American students are being forced to think about race, sex and class struggles in virtually every area of their education rather than simply learning the essentials – reading, writing, arithmetic and science.
Virtually all American students have seen a steady decline in foundational learning skills with some statistics beyond comprehension. A recent report out of Illinois shows zero of the students in thirty of its schools can read at grade level, despite Illinois spending near the top per student. Vermont per student spending is number four in the country projecting to $26,974 in 2025 (up from $24,608 in 2022). The national average per student is $15,633. Chicago Public Schools district (CPS) ranks near the very top per student at over $29,000 despite the dismal failure in reading.
This is why the conversation around transgender athletes and social issues predominating student culture should be of foremost concern for taxpayers and parents. Clearly more spending does not make up for less emphasis on core subjects which disadvantages students’ learning. Just like less testosterone doesn’t make up for biological realities that disadvantage young women in sports.
The newsletter states:
“Trans athletes have been a major focus in the media, specifically the idea that trans women have an unfair advantage in sports. This belief is couched in the notion that women athletes are inherently inferior to men, which is both scientifically unfounded and rooted in sexism. Claims that trans athletes threaten fairness or make women less safe are based on misinformation, not credible evidence.”
This statement is classic gaslighting. Why do I say that? I happen to be a professional in the science of athletic training. The settled biological science of men versus women includes the following “credible evidence”: men have greater cardiac output, lung capacity, bone density, muscle mass, tendon thickness, mechanical advantages, potential strength and absolute strength. Women are also more easily injured because they have wider hips, which is why the number one injury in all of sport is the female knee, which explains the safety issue all the more. Sport is largely about physical prowess to produce speed, power, strength and agility, all of which teenage boys and men can achieve at significantly higher levels than their sexual counterparts. However one doesn’t need to be an expert to know women are inherently inferior to men in virtually every sport, thus proving biological difference, especially those funded through the high school.
A simple look into the records of Vermont male high school athletes versus female makes it plain. Every category of competition in track and field shows boys outdistance girls by comfortable margins, and it’s not even close. This is the definition of superior to inferior athletes. The new world Marxist’s would have you believe otherwise.
However if looking at the numbers doesn’t compel you, watch these transgender athletes absolutely crushing the girls they’re competing against.
- Girl volleyball player paralyzed with brain damage by trans spiked ball.
- Trans UFC fighter cracks skulls of multiple women.
- Trans track athlete in Oregon beats girls by record time and distance.
But it’s worse than that. Transgenderism is a recognized mental illness which means these policies are putting mentally unstable boys into close contact with girls. The results? Here are just a few instances of transgender bullies beating up on smaller girls in schools.
- Transgender athlete attacks fellow Maine student on bus.
- 12 year old girl describes trans student “hit list” to school board.
- Transgender student attacks smaller girl from behind.
- Towering transgender student assaults two smaller girls.
The images in those videos should horrify every parent in Hartford and put every teacher and administrator on notice, especially Principal Nelson Fogg and Equity Coordinator Julia Lau who promoted this propaganda.
Principal Nelson Fogg can be reached at foggn@hartfordschools.net Equity Coordinator Julia Lau can be reached at lauj@hartfordschools.net
The author is a VDC columnist and Upper Valley regional reporter. He lives in Hartford, VT where he owns two award-winning small businesses. He is a graduate of Leadership Upper Valley class of 2010.
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Categories: Commentary, Education, Sports
TRANNY VILLE coming to your town in the future.
They might think so but I don’t think so here!
Excellent article spotlighting one of the dumbest and most destructive trends in America and the world today. Where are NOW and the other women’s groups that once pretended to stand up for women’s rights? Where are the protesters from the Kavenaugh Supreme Court hearings and elsewhere who defiantly shouted, “believe the women!”? It is nauseating that people entrusted with our children’s education push this Kafkaesque nonsense, which defies all reason, science, and common sense.
Totally agree with you! This is insanity
Close the damned school or replace it’s “leadership” entirely.
Dennis Morrisseau
Perhaps Hartford isn’t up on the times. Look how far this went in Maine and the governor, until the citizens spoke LOUDLY with petition to remove the governor of Maine. Perhaps the Principal and Equity Coordinator want some of the same. I think Vermont Education Department better step in before Vermont loses Federal money to the schools.
I think losing federal money WILL be the only way Vermont public schools will stop this madness.
Those videos were heartbreaking for everyone involved.
Mid Vermont Christian School knows this all very well and has paid a dear price when they refused to have their girls up against transgenders who played rough. Sadly the School Associations decided that decision should pull their school from other school competitions, too – like Spelling Bees if I correctly recall.
Think of the girls. They work hard to compete in their sport. They spend endless hours at practices, tryouts, competitions and finals. Then to have a boy , who claims to be a girl come in and steal the winning title. It is not fair. Perhaps the pretend girl gets the scholarships along with the title. I read that the pretend girl cannot be asked anything about the stages of transition. Now I have never experienced the thrill of crossing the finish line first as I was always second to last. How satisfying can it be for a boy to win in a girls race. I don’t understand why a boy would want to do this. I don’t understand why so many boys want to be girls. It was not a problem when I or my children were growing up. I don’t understand why all women are not standing up for the rights of the girls. Those who think girls are the same as boys are science deniers.
The behavior of the seriously mentally ill is often difficult to rationalize…hard to imagine how a male who has defeated a female can live with them/it self…
I offer a slightly modified perspective on the ‘trans’ issue. Some, including me, see this behavior as a natural progression. History is replete with behavioral abnormalities, in humans and other mammals. As cited in several peer-reviewed studies, published by Edward T. Hall in his 1969 book, The Hidden Dimension, there appear to be four distinct behavioral phenomenon that occur in animals and humans, as the level of social stress, typically the result of over-crowding, increases.
They are aggression, pansexual behavior, the deterioration of the family unit and child-rearing skills, and, finally, a sharp decrease in population. In other words, so-called ‘trans’ behavior seems to be a natural phenomenon… nature’s way of controlling population. IMHO, ‘trans’ should be understood for what it is. To characterize the behavior as ‘mental illness’ is a bit too derogatory and disparaging for my sensibilities. That’s just my opinion, to be sure.
Then again, this brings me to what I believe is the root cause of our combined consternation, no matter on what side of the aisle one sits. One size never fits all. Never has. Never will. And a collectivist perspective (yes, Marxism), as currently exists in our monopolized public school system, exacerbates the stress that causes and intensifies this behavioral phenomenon.
The solution is, of course, as always, the free market.
“Fundamentally, there are only two ways of coordinating the economic activities of millions. One is central direction involving the use of coercion – the technique of the army and of the modern totalitarian state. The other is voluntary co-operation of individuals – the technique of the marketplace.” – Milton Friedman
If someone is compelled to ‘trans’ behavior and wants to compete in sports with members of the opposite sex, find members of the opposite sex who agree with your wishes. And may the best ‘whatever’ win. And if you’re not compelled to or accepting of ‘trans’ behavior, don’t compete in that regard.
Many sports are dangerous in any case. Driving a car is dangerous. Taking a Covid shot can be dangerous. Fighting a war can be dangerous. But, at some point, the once frowned upon prospect of ‘separate but equal’ must be considered… as long as it’s mutually voluntary.
Again, to cite the wisdom of Milton Friedman – “If an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it.” And …“A free market system… is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another.”
Think what you will of everyone, including ‘trans’ people. My advice to both sides of the aisle – don’t impose your beliefs and prejudices on others, if you don’t want them imposing their beliefs and prejudices on you.
I take issue with the suggestion that the men-in-women’s-sports issue can be resolved when competition between the sexes, at least on a collegiate or professional level, is “mutually voluntary.” Ask swimmer Riley Gaines and hundreds of other female athletes if they “volunteer” to compete against men. Girls and women on sports teams are often not given a choice: If they resist, complain, or refuse to go up against a man pretending to be a woman, they will be ejected or disqualified. THEY are punished, but the cheaters are rewarded. This is outrageous and unfair— Milton Friedman be damned! I suppose one “solution” would be for girls and women to refuse to participate, even at the cost of giving up a sport they love, in which they excel, and which could offer them happiness and possibly a professional career. But that, too, would be grossly unfair and utterly unnecessary. The issue is simply a matter of fundamental fairness, biology, and common sense. Please stop the nonsense and quit rationalizing this aberrant and bullying, sexist behavior with “peer reviewed studies” and morally equivalent, circular psych-speak.
Re: “I suppose one “solution” would be for girls and women to refuse to participate, even at the cost of giving up a sport they love, in which they excel, and which could offer them happiness and possibly a professional career.”
Your supposition is based on the false premise that refusing to compete with a ‘trans’ male means “…giving up a sport they love, in which they excel, and which could offer them happiness and possibly a professional career.”
The alternatives are many. For one, if more top woman athletes refused to compete with ‘trans’ males, the various established athletic conferences would have no choice but to accommodate those traditional athletes or face the creation of competing athletic conferences. Then ‘the market’ would establish the preferred precedent.
Personally, I have no interest in watching or supporting XY men, who for whatever reason believe they are females, competing against YY females. That’s my choice. But what about ‘trans’ men and YY females who voluntarily want to compete with one another? Let them eat cake?
After all, while you’re entitled to your ‘rationalized, aberrant, bullying, sexist behavior, and morally equivalent, circular psych-speak’, we’re all entitled to our sensibilities too…. even if it offends you. I was merely passing on the explanation as to why some people think the way they do when over-stressed. Again, some display increased pansexual behavior. Others display increased aggression. Your remarks seem to me to substantiate those ‘peer-reviewed’ findings.
My advice stands – “don’t impose your beliefs and prejudices on others, if you don’t want them imposing their beliefs and prejudices on you.” After all, a ‘free market’ doesn’t always care what we think, but it does always care if we have something to voluntarily sell that’s of value to a willing buyer.
Re: “There is nothing false about my premise that, for some female athletes, refusing to compete against trans males can mean giving up a sport they love.”
First of all, your premise didn’t specify “the men-in-[some] women’s-sports. Where are you drawing the line?
And your point about Riley Gaines is incongruous. Did she volunteer to compete against men or not? If Riley Gaines wasn’t afforded the choice to volunteer with no repercussions, she didn’t volunteer.
If these girls are not given the choice, the problem is not with the girls, or the ‘trans’ boys/men with whom they’re being forced to compete. The problem is with the one-size-fits-all education/athletic institutions who are, apparently, equally confused… and despotic in their rulings.
The Vermont Principals’ Association is a perfect example. The VPA had no business disqualifying the Mid Vermont Christian School girls from all subsequent competition when they chose not to compete against ‘trans’ men. And as long as a woke, progressive, majority controls our legislature, their tyranny will continue… not only with regard to this issue, but with regard to every aspect of their denying parents, and their children, legitimate options.
And whose fault is that? It’s Vermont’s voters. We elect these tyrants.
But don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. My original missive simply pointed out several studies describing the causes of ‘trans’ behavior, and a reasonable perspective for dealing with it. Milton Friedman’s citation of ‘free markets’, as the best governance for virtually all human social interaction, is the best resolution I’ve seen to date that accommodates everyone. With all due respect, you’ve not offered a less offensive alternative.
I’m not proposing to force ‘trans’ folks to compete with anyone. They should be allowed to compete with whomever they choose, as long as the competition is voluntary. And the same courtesy should be afforded to YY female and XY male athletes.
After all, what about ‘trans’ girls? Why aren’t they forced to compete with XY boys? What about Billy Jean King voluntarily playing tennis against Bobby Riggs? And then we have pickle-ball, equestrian sports, golf, croquet, badminton, and so forth. Where does this all end, if not with free market choices?
This isn’t a matter of imposing different beliefs but of recognizing universal biological reality. Which is why suggesting free market economics as a solution completely misses the mark.
I have to say H. Jay, quoting quasi-academic books that try to offer high minded views of aberrant behavior with eugenicist undertones followed by Milton Friedman’s economic theories is exactly how we got in this mess. The gender “theorists”, sexologists like Magnus Herschfield, John Money and Judith Butler, take the same pseudo-intellectual positions pretending to speak from an evolutionary or intellectually superior view condescending to the masses who have yet to ascend to the secret knowledge of those in the ivory towers. It’s all balderdash masquerading as advanced knowledge.
First of all, we don’t have an overcrowding problem, globally nor in Vermont. This is an elite fetish enjoyed by the type of people who wear tassels on their wingtips to make up for not having actual balls being surrounded by people who think tweed, ascots and sobriquets like “esquire” give you greater mastery over reality. They don’t. They’re the type of people who choose polysyllabic words and run-on sentences as is if volume confers wisdom – it doesn’t. The same people who think the inability to define a woman is some sort of scientific achievement.
That you cited a eugenics argument to justify this madness is telling. It takes ethical and moral gymnastics to produce an entire book trying to make such a case. This is not the first time in history we’ve seen the trans issue. Camille Paglia notes multiple instances dating back to ancient Greece. What was the population like then? It wasn’t overcrowded other than with cultural elites who shun the idea of picking up a shovel in favor of picking up a venereal disease because they confuse thinking for work. They reject reality and encourage delusions by dint of prestige and position because the mind becomes ill when it’s allowed to think it can overcome nature.
It’s not pushing a belief on someone to refuse to descend into educational madness thought up by Ivy Leaguers who are in fact breaking the plain of reality and pushing “new thought” onto the rest of us and our children. Doing it surreptitiously then defiantly on the taxpayers dime doesn’t just violate scientific reality but breaks the fiduciary responsibility of school staff. Add they are doing it in the face of an American mandate, which also occurred in Vermont, and it’s time for these people to get fired, or, like Paglia warned in her book, our culture will disappear, tassels and all.
Mr. Warner, I suggest you read the studies I cited before you criticize them. Never mind your disregard for free market principles. None of which ever mention ‘biological reality’, only the inevitable differences of opinion inherent in any society and the behavioral changes that occur due to stress. But until you do take the time to carefully read what I said, there’s no point in addressing the rest of your inaccurate points and textbook behaviorally aggressive assertions. Try to lighten up for a change.
H. Jay, I don’t think I need to read the studies to ascertain your summary of them. Scanning the summary doesn’t change what you wrote about it. I’m not responding to the study but to your point, which is deriving it’s “natural” for these things to happen due to “overcrowding”. We don’t have an overcrowding problem in the world, especially not in Vermont the least populated state in America. We certainly didn’t in 1969 when we were at roughly half of what we are now. We are currently, as Elon Musk has pointed out, failing to keep up with healthy population replacement. The most reasonable estimates of what Earth can maintain comfortably are around 9-10 billion with current resources. We’re hovering in the high 7s with populations in decline throughout the world.
Transgenderism is an intellectual fetish foisted on, now children, to promote something decidedly not scientific nor evolutionary. It is a deliberate degrading of our culture, Christianity to be specific. Just like the television shows, movies, porn, “if it bleeds it leads” news reporting, manufactured racism, anti-whitism, and the seemingly endless parade of oppressor v. oppressed scenarios, many of them sexual, lobbed out by the left. All undermining western values, i.e. Christianity. Some obscure study from 1969 may have gotten some of the symptoms correct but it’s fundamentally flawed in it’s diagnosis to assume we’re over-crowded. We aren’t. We can fit the entire world population within the borders of Texas – not comfortably – but the point remains.
Dismissing my argument as “typically behaviorally aggressive” is to side-step it. Notice the other comments, they agree. Intellectual elitism which hate’s Christ and His creation is the real disease. Madness flows away from the Maker as it adds to its menagerie of “new ways of knowing” and “secret knowledge’ reserved for those with enough money and not enough modesty.
Stress can lead to positive adaptations and often does. The inability to cope with stress maybe not, but stress due to perceived over crowding excuses an underlying misanthropy and exclusivity. “Be fruitful and multiply” is the commandment from a Good God who wouldn’t mandate it if it led to disorder, family breakdown and mental illness.
There is nothing to lighten up about when children are being groomed and mutilated irrevocably. I don’t share your insouciance on the matter.
But what do I know, I didn’t graduate college.
Re: H. Jay, I don’t think I need to read the studies to ascertain your summary of them. Scanning the summary doesn’t change what you wrote about it. I’m not responding to the study but to your point, which is deriving it’s “natural” for these things to happen due to “overcrowding”.
Well, you should refer to the studies… and try to understand them. The point is that it is the ‘stress’ the studies attributed to overcrowding that correlated with the behavioral changes, not the overcrowding itself. Different cultures have different norms. But the resulting stress, and its effect on the nervous systems of animals and humans alike, is universal. Of course, you’d have to reread what I said and read Hall’s book to understand that.
And the reference to overcrowding isn’t necessarily a physical corollary to overpopulation. This is especially the case in today’s world of ubiquitous social media… a phenomenon not at all considered back in 1969 when these studies were published.
The psychological effects of social media and its immediate impact on the social interactions of children in particular cannot be exaggerated. If you would dare to read more recent studies on the social problems magnified by social media, published, for example, by Psychology Today, this phenomenon would be even more obvious. It’s little wonder that the ‘trans’ movement is as ever-present as it is today – right along with dysfunctional families, drug overdoses, suicides, and gang violence.
Again, the four aspects of increased stress reported in the now 50-year-old studies read like headlines in today’s NYTs. Increasing aggression, pansexual behavior, the breakdown of family units and child-rearing skills, ending in a significant decline in population should give everyone pause.
Now, what does this have to do with ‘trans’ men competing in women’s sports. Good Lord. I can’t wait for someone to read the observations of humans, rats, and deer, in Hall’s published studies. Clearly, we’re in the middle of a very predictable social malaise. And we had better figure out a reasonable way of dealing with it.
Interestingly, the behavioral studies report that a certain percentage of social individuals survive the impending chaos and anarchy. Yes, each species and culture have unique methods of doing so. Which brings me back to my recommendations, dismiss them as you have every right to do. Suffice it to say, I’m not interested in forcing anyone to do anything. I’m simply recommending social constructs of free market economies, especially as referenced by really wise people like Milton Friedman. Take it or leave it.
We have an ever-increasing population of confused people. More and more of them every day. And they are tending to hate one another. Again, I refer to Friedman; “If an exchange between two parties is voluntary, it will not take place unless both believe they will benefit from it.”
Otherwise, history is replete with the despotic totalitarian reactions to the disagreements created by stress. Flippant characterizations of various groups as Nazis, Fascists, Racists, Mysogenists, and so forth simply reinforce the findings in various social studies. Free market sympathies are simply a formal method of governance that allows each individual to choose their own path and, when necessary, avoid conflict.
Consider another studied quote. “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.” ― Friedrich W. Nietzsche
Again, “A free-market system… is the most effective system we have discovered to enable people who hate one another to deal with one another and help one another.”
Godspeed. We’re going to need it.
Disclaimer: My opinions are expressed for informational purposes only and have no ties to any government, company or political organization. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. Always seek the advice of alternative points of view and answers to any questions you may have regarding your personal circumstance. Disregard alternative and/or professional advice, or delay in seeking it, at your own risk.
There is nothing false about my premise that, for some female athletes, refusing to compete against trans males can mean giving up a sport they love. Sure, they can compete with the hope of giving the boys a good fight, but the odds, unfortunately, are they will come up short. And if a girl or woman with talent and big dreams has very few hopes of succeeding in her sport, she might pull out of a competition or perhaps quit that sport altogether. Why should she be forced to make this decision? Female athletes generally are not asked if they want to compete against males. It’s either stay in the game and hope for the best or get disqualified.
You say “alternatives are many” and then describe a hypothetical scenario in which more women refuse to participate, thus prompting the “various established athletic conferences” either to change the rules or create competing athletic conferences. Wouldn’t that be nice? The fallacy here is that this is not happening. It’s what you might call a false premise. At this point, there is no “alternative,” and I see no evidence that the Powers That Be are willing to accommodate females who want a level playing field.
Some courageous women are refusing to compete against biological males, and they are suffering for it. Meanwhile, the schools and the “various athletic conferences”—rather than changing the rules or creating new male-female conferences—are punishing those who don’t comply. No amount of pie-in-the-sky theorizing or quotations from Milton Friedman will convince me that female athletes are getting a fair shake and the respect they deserve.
JP, please see my response above. I failed to realize that you started a new thread. – HJE
This exchange offers a helpful window into the workings of the liberal mind. I have often wondered how any intelligent person could argue that allowing men to compete in women’s sports is fine and reasonable. Now I see, sort of, although faintly through a fog of bewildering, ivory-tower verbiage. Still, on a practical, non-academic level, it makes no sense.
Well, Mr. Watson, at least you realize that I’m an “intelligent person”, even while you “still, on a practical, non-academic level”, can’t make sense of what I’ve said. Perhaps we actually are beginning to understand one another. I’ll take that as at least some semblance of positive progress in this discussion. Making sense of it all, if you’re still interested in doing so, will come, in time.
Liberals only exist with the consistent flow of OPM…other people’s money. Take away the money and they shrivel up and compost…