At least three Republican candidates in Massachusetts—one for US Senate and two for governor— weighed in on social media over a debate at a Pembroke School Committee meeting concerning transgender athletes playing high school sports. Unsurprisingly, the GOP candidates took up the side of those seeking to ban trans girls from girls sports, according to a report in the Boston Globe.

Reports Boston.com:

[Pembroke parent] Chrissy Nelson raised the issue during a Jan. 13 Pembroke School Committee meeting, explaining her daughter was edged out in one of her races earlier that month at the Massachusetts State Track Coaches Association Northeast Invitational. Only the top eight athletes advanced to the finals; Nelson’s daughter placed ninth. …

“These Pembroke female athletes, … they are not getting their medals, and they are not getting their college opportunities,” Nelson said in a clip that has since generated thousands of likes on social media. “It’s being stolen from them. One day, it could be your daughter.”

John Deaton, a Republican running for U.S. Sen. Ed Markey’s seat, was quick to share the clip, writing, “Too bad this MA Mom’s plea for basic fairness for her daughter and other female athletes falls on deaf ears when it comes to @SenMarkey.”

Citing his own daughters, Deaton said he understood Nelson’s “frustration and the level of [heartbreak] she has for her child.” Two Republican gubernatorial candidates, Mike Kennealy and Mike Minogue, also weighed in on social media. …

In Pembroke, impassioned debate over Nelson’s proposal continued during Tuesday’s School Committee meeting. Most speakers sided with Nelson, though one offered a counterpoint.

“Despite what headlines suggest, no one here is arguing that a student should be allowed to change their identity on a Monday just to snag a varsity jacket by Friday,” said Keri O’Brien. “The MIAA policy already handles this. It protects ‘bona fide identity,’ which is a fancy way of saying, ‘This is who they actually are; not a competitive loophole.’”

She also highlighted what she called a “glaring logical hole” in Nelson’s proposal, noting that if teams were divided strictly by biological sex, transgender boys would be made to compete with cisgender girls even if they had been taking testosterone.

“By the very logic of those who fear biological advantages, aren’t we creating the exact unfair advantage they claim to oppose?” O’Brien asked. “And I certainly hope no one in our community is suggesting these students simply shouldn’t be allowed to play at all.”

Read the complete Boston.com story here.

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