Ben Cline

Ben Cline, trying to raise money for his Sixth District re-election campaign, went to the big news, in his mind, in the world of sports from last week: the “huge victory for women’s sports” from the Trump Court.

“The Supreme Court just delivered a major win for fairness, safety, and common sense – upholding the right to keep biological males out of girls’ and women’s athletics,” the fundraising email that went out this afternoon began.

ICYMI

Trump Court upholds state laws banning trans athletes from female sports

“This is a fantastic America First victory. But the radical Left is already furious and planning its next attack,” the email tells us.

That dastardly radical Left, always up to something.

“Now it’s up to us to defend this win and keep the momentum going. Donate below to stand with Congressman Ben Cline and help protect women’s sports for our daughters.”

Like Ben Cline needs your money – the email conveniently provides buttons for those who want to donate anywhere from $25 to $47 all the way up to $3,500 – to sit on the sidelines and do nothing to “protect women’s sports,” as he does nothing on whatever else is on the MAGA agenda in DC.

Seriously, Mitch McConnell does more in Congress these days than Ben Cline.

The background on this latest effort from the Cline folks to beg folks for money is that the Trump Court voted 6-3 to affirm the constitutionality of laws and regulations in 29 states, including Virginia, banning trans athletes from competing in youth and college sports.

This means the 10 trans athletes among the 530,000 athletes on NCAA-sanctioned teams at the college level, and five playing on girls’ teams at the K-12 level, well, they can’t play on those teams no more.

Donald Trump, you may remember, had made the issue of “biological males” playing against women a major thrust of his 2024 presidential campaign, despite the low numbers of trans athletes competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

These kids already face obvious barriers to being involved in team sports, starting with simply not being allowed to in the 29 states, again, including Virginia, that already bar their participation.

Even where sports is an option, more barriers, starting with the fear of harassment and bullying, simply feeling unwelcome, fear of drawing attention to themselves, pile on.

It’s to a point where attorneys for the plaintiff in one of the two cases that were rolled into the Supreme Court case, Lindsay Hecox, who had wanted to try out for the women’s track and cross-country teams at Boise State, wanted the court to dismiss her case because she had forsworn trying to play on women’s teams, with Hecox conceding that she was “too slow.”

Which pushes back against the narrative advanced by Trump and the legions who have been led to believe that trans athletes are taking over women’s sports – that male athletes are making the decision to transition because they think they can be more competitive against females.

The few trans youths who want to try out for teams are motivated by the same thing that other kids and young adults: their love of sports.

Ben Cline, whose campaign went with “Big Win for Our Daughters” as the subject line of his fundraising email, is motivated by the love of something else here: not having to work a real job like the rest of us.

And he needs your money to be able to keep that cushy three days a week with three months of vacation $174,000-a-year job that he has there.