“What is a woman?” is not supposed to be a trick question. But a truly bizarre unwillingness to answer simple variations of this question has turned it into a potent ideological weakness that isn’t going away for the Democratic Party. Just last week, multiple examples of high-level progressives and Democrats dodging it have gone viral.
First, on Tuesday, during Supreme Court oral arguments over the legality of state-level legislation banning biologically male transgender athletes from women and girls sports, conservative Justice Samuel Alito asked an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the transgender athletes, “For equal protection purposes … [there needs to be] an understanding of what it means to be a boy or a girl or man or a woman … What is that definition?”
Her response?
“We do not have a definition for the court.” Yes, seriously: That’s how the ACLU responded when asked what “sex” means in a case about whether a law constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex (and the interpretation of Title IX’s sex-based sports regulations).
Next, a doctor — yes, a doctor — who was called by Democrats to testify during a Senate hearing was asked by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) 11 times if men can get pregnant, and she refused to answer, calling the question “polarizing.” The clip of this ludicrous exchange quickly went viral.
Finally, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) faced a variation of the question during a podcast interview with conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who pressed him, “The question you’re not wanting to answer … is whether boys can become girls.”
“Yeah, I just, well, uh, I think, uh, I’m for the grace of God. Yeah,” Newsom replied.
Well, that really clears things up.
The reason this question keeps bedeviling Democrats and progressives is that there’s really no way to answer it without invalidating the nonsensical notion of “gender identity,” as opposed to immutable biological sex. That’s a sacred cow among LGBT activists and the liberal base. But simply refusing to answer the question isn’t tenable.
For one, it looks terrible, and normal Americans question the seriousness and credibility of someone who spews verbal diarrhea when asked such a simple question. But, more fundamentally, this isn’t just about sports. Our laws and even our Constitution all directly regulate and differentiate between the sexes, on everything from prisons to healthcare to discrimination. In each and every case, a workable definition of sex and gender is required. Not having one isn’t an option. Yet, in some cases, Democrats’ refusal to answer may actually be covering for the fact that they do have an answer, but it’s a radical one.
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In California law, for example, the idea of a woman is legally meaningless. A biological male with no diagnosis of gender dysphoria or physical, social, or medical “gender transition” of any kind can simply declare that his true “gender identity” is female and then have the legal right to walk into any public accommodation women’s locker room. Heck, he can even just declare himself “nonbinary” — he doesn’t even have to dye his hair or put in the bull nose ring — and walk right into the ladies’ room. All of this is guaranteed by California civil rights law.
So, it may well be that Democrats do have an answer to the “what is a woman?” question. But, at least according to some of their blue state policies, their answer is that a woman is nothing at all but a thought in someone’s head. Once you realize this, it’s easy to see why they’re so obviously embarrassed to admit this answer to the public.
Brad Polumbo is an independent journalist and host of the Brad vs Everyone podcast.