One of the most left-wing members of the Massachusetts legislature made some interesting revelations about a recent amendment the Democratic majority in the state House of Representatives killed last week. .State Representative Michael Connolly (D-Cambridge) provided valuable insight into his party's decision to use a procedural move to kill an amendment from state Representative John Gaskey (R-Carver) that would have barred males from playing girls' interscholastic sports.Gaskey filed an amendment (Amendment 81) to a fiscal year 2025 spending bill (H.4005) that appropriates money for public education and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. His plan would've banned public schools from letting "a male student athlete to participate on a girls’ sports team" or "a female athlete to participate on a boys sports team," according to the amendment. The proposed penalty for violating this rule would be forfeiting all the games in which the male athlete participated.However, when the measure came up for a vote on April 9, state Representative Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) filed an amendment to Gaskey's amendment, calling for a study; it passed, effectively killing the bill.This is where Connolly and the Democratic spin machine comes in.Connolly posted the link on BlueSky to a misleading Boston Globe story with a headline that read “Mass. House passes language barring students from playing on teams of the opposite sex, but requires state analysis."Then, he wrote, "Facts: A MAGA Rep. filed a bigoted amendment. House Dems swiftly killed it via standard procedure. The Boston Globe framed this in a misleading way, causing fear and confusion. Advocates were caught off guard. Massachusetts remains staunchly pro-trans rights! 🏳️⚧️"Unlike Connolly‘s description, however, the primary issue at play in Gaskey’s proposal is not so-called transgender athletes. It's the fact that Massachusetts lets boys who identify as boys compete in girls' sports and that they've won state championships in field hockey and girls' gymnastics this year, as they have several times in the past eight years. In the fall of 2023, 70 boys played girls' high school field hockey, up from 28 in 2016 -- a 250 percent increase.Precise numbers aren’t available. Realistically, there are well over 100 boys competing in girls' high school sports in Massachusetts every year — combine the 70 boys who played field hockey in the fall of 2023 with the 47 boys who played girls' volleyball that same season and you're already at 117. Meanwhile, we only know of a handful of transgender-identifying male athletes competing in girls' sports over the past several years. Gaskey, the state rep who filed the amendment, represents Carver; the town had a league all-star boys' soccer player compete on the girls' soccer team in 2021 because Massachusetts lets boys compete on girls' teams when their school offers no equivalent team for their sex. Yes, there have been males who identify as transgender who have won girls' track and girls' basketball state championships and there have been transgender-identifying athletes who have injured girls in games -- but there have also been boys who identify as boys who have injured girls, which is more common. Physically, there's no fundamental difference between a male who identifies as transgender and one who does not.After Connolly's initial post, a transgender-identifying individual asked Connolly why the Massachusetts House didn't just vote Gaskey's amendment down.Connolly's answer?"Because the House Speaker, Senate President, Governor, and the courts in Massachusetts are all staunchly pro-trans rights, so there is no need to take a surprise vote at MAGA’s behest without having a chance to coordinate messaging with advocates and coordinate strategy with swing district Reps," Connolly wrote."It’s a no brainer for me to vote No on this amendment, representing Cambridge and Somerville," Connolly added. "The question is whether it’s better to kill the amendment via procedure, as we did yesterday. Or support MAGA in bringing it to a vote — where the final tally and the implications of that tally are unknown."Imagine if Beacon Hill Democrats had to defend their unpopular votes without their NPC talking points. We already knew the typical member of the majority party on Beacon Hill is a puppet for leadership, though there's a few exceptions.But notice Connolly takes the anti-democracy stance when it's convenient for him. In a healthy democracy, voters would have as much information as possible about their elected officials, including where they stand on an issue like males competing in girls' sports. However, we know from a University of New Hampshire poll released last month that 63 percent of Bay Staters oppose transgender-identifying athletes competing in girls' sports while 26 percent oppose it; my guess is boys who identify as boys competing in girls' sports would be even less popular, if it were ever polled, because at least some well-intentioned, misguided people wouldn't have their judgement clouded by the transgender part. Massachusetts lets boys play on girls' sports teams when there's no equivalent girls' team due to a 1979 state Supreme Judicial Court interpretation of the state’s 1976 voter-approved state Equal Rights Amendment. And the state lets transgender-identifying athletes compete on the team that matches their stated gender identity because of a 2011 bill then-Governor Deval Patrick signed into law called "An Act Relative To Gender Identity." It seems the only way to prevent males competing in girls' sports in Massachusetts would be through a ballot question, a court ruling, or federal action -- with a ballot question being the most feasible course of action.Until then, expect Beacon Hill Democrats to avoid this issue and call people bigots for expressing legitimate concerns.
One of the most left-wing members of the Massachusetts legislature made some interesting revelations about a recent amendment the Democratic majority in the state House of Representatives killed last week. .State Representative Michael Connolly (D-Cambridge) provided valuable insight into his party's decision to use a procedural move to kill an amendment from state Representative John Gaskey (R-Carver) that would have barred males from playing girls' interscholastic sports.Gaskey filed an amendment (Amendment 81) to a fiscal year 2025 spending bill (H.4005) that appropriates money for public education and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. His plan would've banned public schools from letting "a male student athlete to participate on a girls’ sports team" or "a female athlete to participate on a boys sports team," according to the amendment. The proposed penalty for violating this rule would be forfeiting all the games in which the male athlete participated.However, when the measure came up for a vote on April 9, state Representative Ken Gordon (D-Bedford) filed an amendment to Gaskey's amendment, calling for a study; it passed, effectively killing the bill.This is where Connolly and the Democratic spin machine comes in.Connolly posted the link on BlueSky to a misleading Boston Globe story with a headline that read “Mass. House passes language barring students from playing on teams of the opposite sex, but requires state analysis."Then, he wrote, "Facts: A MAGA Rep. filed a bigoted amendment. House Dems swiftly killed it via standard procedure. The Boston Globe framed this in a misleading way, causing fear and confusion. Advocates were caught off guard. Massachusetts remains staunchly pro-trans rights! 🏳️⚧️"Unlike Connolly‘s description, however, the primary issue at play in Gaskey’s proposal is not so-called transgender athletes. It's the fact that Massachusetts lets boys who identify as boys compete in girls' sports and that they've won state championships in field hockey and girls' gymnastics this year, as they have several times in the past eight years. In the fall of 2023, 70 boys played girls' high school field hockey, up from 28 in 2016 -- a 250 percent increase.Precise numbers aren’t available. Realistically, there are well over 100 boys competing in girls' high school sports in Massachusetts every year — combine the 70 boys who played field hockey in the fall of 2023 with the 47 boys who played girls' volleyball that same season and you're already at 117. Meanwhile, we only know of a handful of transgender-identifying male athletes competing in girls' sports over the past several years. Gaskey, the state rep who filed the amendment, represents Carver; the town had a league all-star boys' soccer player compete on the girls' soccer team in 2021 because Massachusetts lets boys compete on girls' teams when their school offers no equivalent team for their sex. Yes, there have been males who identify as transgender who have won girls' track and girls' basketball state championships and there have been transgender-identifying athletes who have injured girls in games -- but there have also been boys who identify as boys who have injured girls, which is more common. Physically, there's no fundamental difference between a male who identifies as transgender and one who does not.After Connolly's initial post, a transgender-identifying individual asked Connolly why the Massachusetts House didn't just vote Gaskey's amendment down.Connolly's answer?"Because the House Speaker, Senate President, Governor, and the courts in Massachusetts are all staunchly pro-trans rights, so there is no need to take a surprise vote at MAGA’s behest without having a chance to coordinate messaging with advocates and coordinate strategy with swing district Reps," Connolly wrote."It’s a no brainer for me to vote No on this amendment, representing Cambridge and Somerville," Connolly added. "The question is whether it’s better to kill the amendment via procedure, as we did yesterday. Or support MAGA in bringing it to a vote — where the final tally and the implications of that tally are unknown."Imagine if Beacon Hill Democrats had to defend their unpopular votes without their NPC talking points. We already knew the typical member of the majority party on Beacon Hill is a puppet for leadership, though there's a few exceptions.But notice Connolly takes the anti-democracy stance when it's convenient for him. In a healthy democracy, voters would have as much information as possible about their elected officials, including where they stand on an issue like males competing in girls' sports. However, we know from a University of New Hampshire poll released last month that 63 percent of Bay Staters oppose transgender-identifying athletes competing in girls' sports while 26 percent oppose it; my guess is boys who identify as boys competing in girls' sports would be even less popular, if it were ever polled, because at least some well-intentioned, misguided people wouldn't have their judgement clouded by the transgender part. Massachusetts lets boys play on girls' sports teams when there's no equivalent girls' team due to a 1979 state Supreme Judicial Court interpretation of the state’s 1976 voter-approved state Equal Rights Amendment. And the state lets transgender-identifying athletes compete on the team that matches their stated gender identity because of a 2011 bill then-Governor Deval Patrick signed into law called "An Act Relative To Gender Identity." It seems the only way to prevent males competing in girls' sports in Massachusetts would be through a ballot question, a court ruling, or federal action -- with a ballot question being the most feasible course of action.Until then, expect Beacon Hill Democrats to avoid this issue and call people bigots for expressing legitimate concerns.
