Your report on Mary Francis Hoots’ recent address to the Pachyderm Club demonstrates, not only a disturbing level of intolerance on her part, but also an ignorance about the state of women’s sports in 2024. (“Hoots Tells Pachyderm Club Women’s Sports ‘Should Stay Female’” March 11).
Ms. Hoots uses the terms “disgusting” and “immoral” to describe transgender athletes. What’s disgusting is that the county mayor’s director of communications has appointed herself the morality police and is proving to be insensitive to the complex issue of gender identification, an issue with which many people are struggling to understand – and accept -- in this divided society.
And her assertion that this important conversation is “killing women’s sports” is laughable. Apparently, Ms. Hoots is unaware that women’s sports have never been more popular, generating big bucks for colleges and universities and big ratings for television networks and sponsors. Here are just some of the facts:
Media coverage of women’s sports has nearly tripled, according to Forbes (October 2023).
In 2024, for the first time, women’s sports will generate a revenue of more than $1 billion, a 300 percent increase from 2021, CNBC reported earlier this month.
Six women’s sports are in the top 10 among all college athletics for NIL (name, image, likeness) compensation; women’s basketball is third on that list. (CNBC, November 2022).
What’s also disturbing – maybe even disgusting – is that the mayor’s taxpayer-salaried aide is spending her time giving political speeches to a partisan group like the Pachyderm Club. Does she not have county work to do? Is the mayor not keeping her busy enough? It does make this taxpayer wonder if the job of Ms. Hoots’ – who we learn also serves as chair of the county’s Young Republicans; a busy woman is this Ms. Hoots – is even needed in county government. That would be an appropriate question for the County Commission to ask.
Rachel Campbell
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There isn’t much our young county mayor does that I agree with, but it looks like he hit a home when he hired Ms. Hoots. She is a former college athlete who knows what she’s talking about regarding higher level competition.
Today Fox News interviewed Riley Gaines about her organization’s lawsuit against the NCAA over its policies regarding transgender athletes in women’s sports. Gaines cited unfair advantage and greater risk of injury for women in sports due to differences in gender biology (i.e., that genetically-born male athletes are generally stronger, faster and bigger than genetically-born females) as reasons for the suit. She also cited challenges on Title IX, which has somehow morphed from its original intent to promote women’s sports and protect female athletes into tolerance of allowing males who claim to be females as competitors in women’s sports.
A recent letter to the Chattanoogan derides Ms. Hoots' comments, calling them “disgusting”. That letter also laments the fact that “many people” are “struggling to understand - and accept” transgender identification.
I don’t think many people misunderstand the unfairness and precariousness of allowing biological males to compete against biological females in sports. Birth gender is what it is, no matter the desire for it to be something different. It’s just common sense and has nothing whatsoever to do with acceptance (or lack thereof) of whatever gender someone else claims to be. Other than for those pushing a radical transgender agenda, this isn't divisive or exclusionary at all.
If the NCAA wants to promote transgender athletics, it should establish a league for those athletes separate from ones for biological females. That would level the playing field and eliminate an issue that has generated far too much heat.
Morgan Smith
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Ms. Campbell,
I concur with your points. Upon reading the article, I found myself perplexed. It seemed unusual for someone in her position to engage in political speeches. It appears they are targeting the single women vote by trotting her out. Alabama recently tried a similar approach, which ultimately backfired.
She also brought up the BLM marches that were downtown. She was right, they broke into buildings, put their feet on the desk, assaulted officers and even carried firearms. Oh, my bad that was at the nation’s Capital on Jan 6. The utilization of “riots” was a dog whistle in my opinion.
Furthermore, the voucher program appears to be far from a viable solution. Despite assertions otherwise, I have yet to receive concrete evidence that it outperforms the current system. We're in desperate need of solutions, but this program isn't it. The incessant back-and-forth is tiresome. If genuine concern for the well-being of children and citizens exists, both sides must collaborate to improve the city and county. It appears to me that dad and employee did the dirty work on this one.
Christopher Cooper
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It’s encouraging to know there are young voices willing to take a stand on important issues like gender equality in sports. Ms. Hoots obviously feels passionate about making sure only female athletes are allowed to compete in girls’ and women’s sports. As a Division I soccer player, she put in the hard work to compete at the very highest level of college sports and has a right to express her opinion, no matter where she works.
To be clear, Ms. Hoots calls out the practice of allowing men to compete against women “disgusting and immoral”, not the athletes themselves. But Ms. Campbell doesn’t let the facts get in the way of a good argument.
Ironically, the 50th anniversary of Title IX, the landmark law that ensures women have equal access to athletic opportunities, was celebrated the very same year that a man was allowed to compete in the NCAA women’s swimming national championships. Not surprisingly, that man won the 500-yard freestyle, denying the national title to the women he competed against. Yet, Ms. Campbell would have us believe that women’s sports are thriving because of the “big bucks for colleges and universities and big ratings for television networks and sponsors” being generated by women’s sports. Tell that to the women who probably spent most of their young lives preparing to compete at the very highest levels of college athletics, only to have their opportunity taken away by a man.
Fortunately, many of those swimmers have filled a lawsuit against the NCAA and will soon have their day in court. Where are the feminist voices who fought so hard to make sure our female athletes were allowed equal access? If they’re not willing to speak up, I’m glad that women like Ms. Hoots are.
Kay Culbreath
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I would like to join Morgan Smith in support of Mary Frances Hoots' opinion piece supporting female athletics and exclusion of transgenders.
If a person thinks that is in any way right or fair to anyone, you have lost your freaking mind. It is actually very refreshing to hear her opinions on that and also the bias and lack of in-depth truthful reporting by media, even here locally.
Maybe there's hope for us after all - if we survive another Trump presidency. What was so bad about Desantis? More food for thought.
Sam Lewallen
Sale Creek