I applaud Kessa Benner’s March 21 opinion speaking out on the unfairness of her having to compete against an individual assigned male at birth in her athletic event (“Opinion: My dream of a state pole vaulting championship was unfairly shattered). She is correct.
A similar opinion piece recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal, written by Minna Svärd who, in 2019, lost in the NCAA Division II 400 meter hurdles championship to an individual who had competed for his school’s men’s track team in the two seasons previous. As Ms. Svärd succinctly put it, she became “… the first collegiate woman to be told her victory was worth less than a man’s feelings.”
Michael Smith
Wells
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