This past week has seen certain LGBT issues take center stage again after House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) officially declared that sex-segregated spaces at the Capitol, like bathrooms and locker rooms, “are reserved for individuals of that biological sex.” This commonsense policy that protects women has prompted all sorts of outrage from the radical left. Naturally, the left doesn’t see it this way and is fuming over it.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said the policy is “endangering all women and girls.”

Her response was the epitome of stupid, but she wasn’t the only one distorting the issue.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) offered his office bathroom for Representative-elect [Tim] Sarah McBride to use and declared “There’s no job I’m afraid to lose if it requires me to degrade anyone.”

And then there’s Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), who said, “My GOP colleagues, who privately tell me they don’t hate LGBTQ+ people, should find the courage to reject the dehumanizing rhetoric. Your silence is deafening.”

Her tweet, dripping with the kind of condescension we’ve come to expect from progressive Democrats, misses the mark entirely. This isn’t about hate. The debate over policies like barring biological men from women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports isn’t about hate — it’s about protecting basic rights and common sense. 

Americans have every right to defend spaces and opportunities specifically designed for women. These aren’t trivial issues — they involve fundamental questions of fairness and safety that, for some reason, the radical left has completely abandoned because it’s now owned by the transgender lobby.

Remember, it took a long time for women to get the same opportunities as men. Think about it. Title IX, the landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education, was only passed in 1972. Nearly fifty years later, the idea of biological men competing in female athletics has become the cause du jour of the radical left, completely undermining the intent and spirit of the law.

Men who claim to “identify” as women enjoy biological advantages that cannot be erased with plastic surgery or hormone treatments. It doesn’t matter what a man’s “preferred pronouns” are or if he puts on a dress. He’ll have higher bone density, muscle mass, and lung capacity, giving him an edge that his female athletes simply can’t match.

Allowing biological men into women’s sports effectively robs women of the chance to compete on an equal playing field and, sadly, has stolen accolades and opportunities from real women.

The same principles apply to private spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms. It’s not “dehumanizing” or “degrading” to say that women and girls deserve privacy and safety. It’s not hateful to expect boundaries rooted in biological reality. It’s about respect — both for real women’s needs and for the truth.

Balint’s claim that silence equals complicity is a typical identity politics tactic, demanding moral submission instead of fostering meaningful debate. And Democrats never want to debate the issues. Particularly this one. 

The real issue is the left’s refusal to acknowledge that concerns about protecting women’s sports and private spaces are grounded in science and shared by many Americans. Conservatives must reject the false narrative that defending women’s rights is anti-LGBTQ. This debate isn’t about hate but about fairness, dignity, and recognizing biological differences are real and cannot be erased.