Letters propose end to gendered sports, lobby for better Medicaid, tell ‘the left’ to grow up

It’s time to end gendered sports

Sports should be about competition, not gender. Yet, the debate over transgender athletes highlights a deeper issue: our outdated reliance on gender-based divisions in athletics. Instead of arguing over which category someone belongs to, we should question why these categories exist at all.

Gendered sports assume people have inherently different abilities based on their designated sex, but reality proves otherwise. Some women outperform men, some men struggle despite supposed advantages, and many transgender and intersex athletes don’t fit neatly into either category. Gender is an unreliable metric for determining fair competition.

A better approach is to classify athletes by skill level, much like weight classes in wrestling or ranking systems in tennis. This would create a fairer, more inclusive system that prioritizes talent, training, and determination over gender identity.

Opponents of transgender inclusion argue about fairness, yet fairness is already compromised by grouping athletes by gender. This system lumps together individuals with vastly different abilities, contradicting the very idea of merit-based competition. If fairness is truly the goal, sports should be structured around performance, not gender.

Clinging to gendered divisions in sports upholds outdated ideas about masculinity and femininity. True fairness means eliminating gender as a factor in competition. Instead of policing identity, we should build a system that values ability above all else.

Jarrod Shartle-Irvin, Lacey

Medicaid cuts are not OK

Working in the emergency department, I care for those at some of the worst moments of their lives. Trying to get them primary care to follow up with and specialty care for complex issues to prevent further morbidity and mortality can be impossible due to the very low reimbursement of Medicaid in Washington state.

Governor Ferguson‘s proposal to cut Medicaid reimbursement further is an outrage. The thought of working at an emergency department in the state capital that cannot provide the basics of medical care to its most at-risk populations is hard to wrap my brain around.

We need to support House Bill 1392 increasing Medicaid reimbursements for access to care and fight Governor Ferguson’s proposal to cut already insanely low Medicaid reimbursement.

Dr. Anna McKeone, Olympia

The Left needs to grow up against Trump

First they came for the undocumented people. Then they came for the documented protesters. Next who will they come for? This is the cautionary tale from history, the days of Nazi Germany. Who has visited Gitmo to see how the men, women, children are doing there?

This is America. This is who we are now. This is who we elected.

And those who protested in the freeways, those who nationally on the left have been so known for their views for protesting for those who are oppressed are absent now. And much like Harris and Biden immediately after the election, those Democrats who we elected that we entrusted, they are absent from presenting a unifying or objectifying front.

The left has gone coward. The left has gone scared. I think a lot of kids grew up, just like on the right, in a virtual setting, but not actually having a clue what to do in a non-controlled setting.

Bill Burr in his recent Hulu special in Seattle points out perhaps liberals need to get armed. I think they just need to grow up, and have for the last 25 years.

Identity politics that affected so few trumped the financial realities of the struggling middle class that were dealing with skyrocketing rent and other realities of the country the “good economy” did not show at the micro level. It was a fake economy.

The left needs to get tough, grow up, and be ready to fight. This is the real world.

Jonathan Ammons, Olympia