Three Irish moms are decrying the idea that boys can become girls and girls can become boys — and the result will be a fair athletic competition. According to the Global Irish Dance Commission, Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), a 14-year-old boy can suddenly identify as a girl, becoming eligible for sports like Irish dance and beat out biological females training for years. Shortly after “switching” genders, a 14-year-old entered the women’s U14 2023 Southern Region Oireachtas competition and claimed first place, beating almost 100 girls. In doing so, he will advance to the Irish Dancing World Championships, displacing a female dancer in the process, according to Independent Women’s Forum (IWF). The CLRG held private discussions as a result of the recent gender swap and chaos that ensued to determine if parents should even be allowed to know if their daughters are competing against biological boys in dance. The three mothers are now sounding the alarm on the implications of children crossing genders to compete. They explained to IWF all the time and expenses they have put into their childrens’ athletic endeavors — and that they expect fair competition in return for their investment. “My daughter should have won second [at the Southern Region Oireachtas], but she placed third because of him,” one mother told IWF. “He was on my radar, so to speak, because of his behavior towards other dancers.”“The boys are so much stronger and more powerful, and their dance steps are different,” she said. “He insisted on standing next to her, but was incredibly aggressive and almost ran her off-stage. My daughter burst into tears after the performance.”“He and his mom would go up to other young boys at local competitions and say, ‘I’m coming for you at Regionals.”.Another mom came forward to point out having boys mixed in with the girls changes the nature of the dance class as well. She wrote a letter to the CLRG expressing the discomfort of her daughter and the other girls in the class. “Our U14 group has always been a very close group of girls that cheer each other on, and if you watch the awards video, it was obvious that every single girl was uncomfortable,” she told IWF. “There was not our usual hugging, hand holding, and closeness that we all enjoy as we listen to the awards […] I am afraid that many will quit our beautiful sport of Irish Dance and that it will never be the same.”“She has dance class three times a week, and each class is about two and a half hours long. She also cross-trains with a fitness trainer twice a week, and self-trains at home,” she added, making the comparison of a male athlete competing with females is like comparing “apples and oranges” in terms of strength and stamina. “The girl who should have qualified for Worlds – and missed it because of him – went running past me into the hall afterwards,” the mother continued. “She was bawling, and I just went out there and sat with her.” “The girls are tired of this,” she said. “They feel mocked. If you’re a boy, you don’t have to worry about having your cycle that day. You don’t have to worry about figuring out breathing techniques to accommodate your smaller lung capacity. You don’t have to worry about struggling to build muscle while your body is trying to build fat.”“Parents feel that [the CLRG] has failed to make sure that their girls, who make up the majority of Irish dancers, continue to have opportunities,” she said. “If this policy isn’t changed, [the male dancer] is going to be everywhere. He’ll be up on the podium, taking spots, sashes, trophies from the girls,” Fisher said. “If nothing changes, we’re done. I’ll die on this hill.” A third mother associated with the CLRG told IWF the organization was less than helpful about addressing her concerns as a mother, this time with a biological female competing as a boy with her son and his dance class. “I found out that a girl was going to be competing in my son’s category back in September,” she said. “I contacted the CLRG about it, and it took them five weeks to respond to me. When they finally responded, they said that they didn’t have a policy in place, so they were letting kids dance ‘where they felt comfortable.’” She pleaded with them to reconsider, but CLRG “blew her off,” as did her son’s instructor, who said “there’s nothing we can do about this."“She said ‘Your son is just going to have to get used to it, because he’s going to be facing this throughout the rest of his life,’” the dance mom told IWF.
Three Irish moms are decrying the idea that boys can become girls and girls can become boys — and the result will be a fair athletic competition. According to the Global Irish Dance Commission, Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), a 14-year-old boy can suddenly identify as a girl, becoming eligible for sports like Irish dance and beat out biological females training for years. Shortly after “switching” genders, a 14-year-old entered the women’s U14 2023 Southern Region Oireachtas competition and claimed first place, beating almost 100 girls. In doing so, he will advance to the Irish Dancing World Championships, displacing a female dancer in the process, according to Independent Women’s Forum (IWF). The CLRG held private discussions as a result of the recent gender swap and chaos that ensued to determine if parents should even be allowed to know if their daughters are competing against biological boys in dance. The three mothers are now sounding the alarm on the implications of children crossing genders to compete. They explained to IWF all the time and expenses they have put into their childrens’ athletic endeavors — and that they expect fair competition in return for their investment. “My daughter should have won second [at the Southern Region Oireachtas], but she placed third because of him,” one mother told IWF. “He was on my radar, so to speak, because of his behavior towards other dancers.”“The boys are so much stronger and more powerful, and their dance steps are different,” she said. “He insisted on standing next to her, but was incredibly aggressive and almost ran her off-stage. My daughter burst into tears after the performance.”“He and his mom would go up to other young boys at local competitions and say, ‘I’m coming for you at Regionals.”.Another mom came forward to point out having boys mixed in with the girls changes the nature of the dance class as well. She wrote a letter to the CLRG expressing the discomfort of her daughter and the other girls in the class. “Our U14 group has always been a very close group of girls that cheer each other on, and if you watch the awards video, it was obvious that every single girl was uncomfortable,” she told IWF. “There was not our usual hugging, hand holding, and closeness that we all enjoy as we listen to the awards […] I am afraid that many will quit our beautiful sport of Irish Dance and that it will never be the same.”“She has dance class three times a week, and each class is about two and a half hours long. She also cross-trains with a fitness trainer twice a week, and self-trains at home,” she added, making the comparison of a male athlete competing with females is like comparing “apples and oranges” in terms of strength and stamina. “The girl who should have qualified for Worlds – and missed it because of him – went running past me into the hall afterwards,” the mother continued. “She was bawling, and I just went out there and sat with her.” “The girls are tired of this,” she said. “They feel mocked. If you’re a boy, you don’t have to worry about having your cycle that day. You don’t have to worry about figuring out breathing techniques to accommodate your smaller lung capacity. You don’t have to worry about struggling to build muscle while your body is trying to build fat.”“Parents feel that [the CLRG] has failed to make sure that their girls, who make up the majority of Irish dancers, continue to have opportunities,” she said. “If this policy isn’t changed, [the male dancer] is going to be everywhere. He’ll be up on the podium, taking spots, sashes, trophies from the girls,” Fisher said. “If nothing changes, we’re done. I’ll die on this hill.” A third mother associated with the CLRG told IWF the organization was less than helpful about addressing her concerns as a mother, this time with a biological female competing as a boy with her son and his dance class. “I found out that a girl was going to be competing in my son’s category back in September,” she said. “I contacted the CLRG about it, and it took them five weeks to respond to me. When they finally responded, they said that they didn’t have a policy in place, so they were letting kids dance ‘where they felt comfortable.’” She pleaded with them to reconsider, but CLRG “blew her off,” as did her son’s instructor, who said “there’s nothing we can do about this."“She said ‘Your son is just going to have to get used to it, because he’s going to be facing this throughout the rest of his life,’” the dance mom told IWF.
