When photographer Erica Denhoff first saw the segment on Lia Thomas, she thought something was “honestly wrong.” After stopping and rewinding the “Today Show” multiple times, she was certain: NBC had altered the picture. Gone was the swimmer’s Adam’s apple, his harsher — more male — features. “I pride myself on providing authentic images as a photojournalist,” she told the Washington Examiner. This wasn’t the shot she’d taken, Denhoff insisted. The network had airbrushed the face of the biggest story in sports to fit the transgender narrative. But considering the country’s reaction, they’ll have a much harder time glamorizing something else: their argument.

To Denhoff, it was a betrayal. “My photo that they licensed was an authentic photo,” Denhoff said. “I’m surprised and disappointed that ‘Today’ altered my image of Lia for this particular news segment.” Other photographers weighed in anonymously to support Denhoff, agreeing that the image had been doctored. “That’s really bad,” one told the New York Post. Of course, once you deny reality, as so many Leftists have, why not alter it? Unfortunately for NBC, this just proves what a desperate argument the fringe is making. They can’t let the science speak for itself — and now, they can’t let the photographs either.

But all the photoshopping in the world can’t overcome the fact that this woke fanaticism is destroying our daughters’ safety, their privacy, their opportunities. For every Lia Thomas, there’s a girl losing the chance to chase her dreams. For every Iszac Henig, there are dozens more swimmers, standing around the locker room, anxious to change. So when Utah Governor Spencer Cox (R) says he vetoed a bill that would have protected women because of “kindness, mercy, and compassion,” you have to wonder — for who?

Fortunately for the women of Utah, there are leaders in the legislature who refused to wait even 96 hours to right the governor’s wrong. In a very public rebuke of Cox, the Republican-led House and Senate took matters into their own hands, overriding the veto and banning biological boys from girls’ sports by overwhelming margins: 56-18 and 21-7. The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Kera Birkeland (R), admitted that the process had been difficult, but as a former coach, she refused to back down. “When we say, ‘This isn’t a problem in our state,’ what we say to those girls is, ‘Sit down, be quiet, and make nice,’” she said. “The biggest mistake would have been to just wait until someone litigates on this issue and then us saying, ‘Gosh I wish we would have gotten in front of it and handled it the way we wanted to.’”

Beth Stelzer, who was at the NCAA championship earlier this month when Lia Thomas knocked women off the podium, is at least grateful that America’s eyes are finally opened to the injustice of it all. “It was soul-crushing to actually see [the meet] in person. It was just devastating,” she shared on “Washington Watch.” “And you could just tell the energy went down in the room.” When Stelzer walked into the hallway to collect herself, “maybe get some fresh air,” that’s when she ran into the mom of one of the other swimmers. “And she was just sobbing, and we embraced — and that’s what it’s like. People are so afraid, and it’s such an emotional thing — and it shouldn’t have to be that way.”

More states have come to that same conclusion, racing to stop the wave of transgender turmoil from destroying their playing fields. Thanks to Thomas, elected leaders in Arizona, Oklahoma, and Kentucky stepped up their efforts and managed to send three separate bills to their governors’ desks on Friday. In Arizona, Governor Doug Ducey (R) hasn’t indicated what he’ll do, but unlike some proposals, this one applies to public K-12 and college. (The state’s house actually succeeded in pulling double duty that day — passing a bill outlawing gender-mutilating surgeries for kids too.)

Over in the Sooner State, the legislation is almost identical to Arizona’s — mandating that “teams designated for ‘females,’ ‘women,’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” including collegiate teams. Like most of the dozen states to fight this problem, Oklahoma passed the measure by a massive margin, 37-7.

The political dynamics are a little different in Kentucky, where voters have a Democratic governor, Andy Beshear. If he follows the bad example set by Utah’s Cox and Indiana’s Eric Holcomb (R), the GOP supermajorities in both chambers may have something to say about it. Make sure all of these governors know where you stand by contacting their offices and urging them to sign the bills.

In the meantime, it’s become such a hot-button issue that Republicans running for federal seats of all kinds are making the topic a centerpiece of their campaigns. Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.) was one of the first — and was repaid for her courage by being censored by Twitter. Now, Ohio’s Jane Timken (R), who’s running for the open U.S. Senate seat, is releasing a new ad solely on the threat to girls’ sports. “As a mom and former college athlete, I know how important women’s sports are,” she says in the clip. “They teach our girls to be winners.” Then, with footage of Thomas playing in the background, she warns, “But the Biden Democrats want to force our daughters to compete against men in the pool and on the court.”

Thanks to the brave men and women in the states, the Biden Democrats are losing that fight. And they might lose more than that if they don’t abandon this toxic obsession with erasing women — and the truth.

Originally published here.

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In Governor’s Race, YouTube Elects for Censorship

YouTube is actively preventing Pennsylvania voters from casting informed ballots in the upcoming primary election. That’s the only conclusion to draw from YouTube’s decision over the weekend to remove a candidate forum hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute (PFI). “YouTube offered no specifics of what is alleged to be in violation, beyond indicating that it had to do with content related to the 2020 Presidential election,” said PFI President Michael Geer. “That election was not mentioned in our questions, and we can only conclude that the YouTube censors did not like the answers given by one or more of the candidates.”

Candidate forums play a critical role in our political process by providing candidates with equal and comparable platforms to make their cases to the electorate. They serve to inform voters and illustrate contrasts between candidates which can aid voters in choosing who to vote for. Candidate forums serve no purpose unless they expose viewers to opinions that contrast, even opinions that are wrong, on the issues that matter most.

Fortunately, the forum was also broadcast on radio, and the audio file has not been censored. Candidates were asked, “with reason-free mail-in ballots and a very active Pennsylvania Supreme Court, what would you do as governor to fix or restore election integrity and the confidence of Pennsylvania voters?” Moderators explained that they included a question on election integrity because radio listeners indicated the topic was one of pressing interest.

The irony of YouTube censoring this discussion is that it has committed the error they claim to oppose — threatening our election-based system of government. Most conservatives (with a few, notable exceptions) understand that the 2020 election is not the hill to die on. Whatever controversy remains or whatever illegalities were perpetrated, it’s too late now to go back and undo the 2020 election. But we can and we must work to ensure the integrity of future elections. Now, in the name of not reliving the 2020 election, YouTube is interfering with the 2022 election by blocking voters from informing themselves on where the candidates stand on the issues that matter to them.

Even from YouTube’s perspective, censoring a candidate forum discussing election integrity is counter-productive. Let’s briefly assume, for the sake of argument, that one or more of the seven GOP gubernatorial candidates who participated in the forum did advance wild and unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. Their irrational position would then be seen for what it is, compared with the reasonable positions of the other candidates. Additionally, voters would be given the chance to reject the crazy positions in favor of more grounded candidates. But, due to YouTube’s decision to censor the forum altogether, many voters are left in the dark, unaware of whether the candidates they might vote for hold reasonable or unreasonable positions on election integrity. YouTube’s censorship of issues of controversy such as election integrity only fuels conspiracy theories and general distrust.

YouTube censors have always practiced viewpoint discrimination (certain viewpoints are accepted, while others are forbidden), but now they are attempting to dictate which policy issues gubernatorial candidates are allowed to discuss. A candidate forum posted only the day before PFI’s forum remains available to watch, because it discussed business, not election integrity. Campaigns often live or die based upon their ability to promote the winning issues. If YouTube can control which topics candidates are allowed to discuss, they can control elections.

While the Left virtue signals about preserving “democracy” in Ukraine, they’re pummeling it here at home. YouTube’s censorship is “a blatant assault on free speech,” Geer warned. “It hinders the process of democracy, shuts down the free marketplace of ideas, and ironically, further erodes confidence in our elections.”

Originally published here.

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This is a publication of the Family Research Council. Mr. Perkins is president of FRC.