11th-Place Irish Dancing Competitor Switches to Girls’ Event, Wins Top Prize, Heads to World Championship

An American boy who says he is a “transgender” girl has won a slot in the Irish Dancing World Championships for girls after winning a girls’ competition he switched to when he lost competing against other boys.

“Parents think it’s outrageous,” one parent told the Daily Signal, which broke the story after the boy placed first in a regional dance competition for girls in the United States. “They are absolutely outraged. It’s absolutely ridiculous, just like in any other sport …The feeling is one of fundamental unfairness,” this parent added. “And then obviously the frustration and resentment that goes along with that.”

American parents are protesting the decision after the boy placed first in the under-14 south region competitions that took place in Dallas, Texas, according to the Daily Signal.

The first-place win comes after the boy had placed 11th when he competed as a boy against other boys in April at the Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG) World Championships.

The organizers of the dance association are defending their decision to let boys take prizes and status from girls.

“I am aware that there is a great deal of upset … [with] policies that transgender Irish Dancers enter competitions that align with the gender identity of their everyday public life,” said a November 21 statement by dance association official P.J. McCafferty.

He added:

We advocate for every one of our dancers …We do our very best to be fair to everyone. This situation is not easy for anyone. Not everyone’s point of view or personal interests align. I am asking for your tolerance. You are expected to respect all the dancers.

“The powers that be within Irish dance are more interested in being politically correct than preserving both the dignity of Irish dance and its dancers,” Maggie McKneely, who competed in an adult competition in early December, said in a post at the conservative group, Concerned Women for America. 

The post is headlined “Radical Gender Ideology Comes for Irish Dance,” and says:

The sexes are not interchangeable in a dance style centered on who each dancer is biologically. But some factions within the Irish dance community want to throw out everything that makes Irish dance what it is by embracing radical gender ideology.

…

To whom, exactly, is this being fair? Is it fair to ask young girls to pour their heart into a sport, and then rob them of the prize for which they have worked so hard? Is it fair to dress a young boy in a dress and wig and teach him to dance like a girl because he’s confused? It is not fair to undermine one of the core truths that make Irish dance what it is, that men and women are different and that’s not only ok, but a good thing!

Unfortunately, Director McCafferty is right, this has happened before – earlier this year, at a major competition in Ireland, a dancer identifying as non-binary won the Adult Women’s competition. That particular dancer vocally advocates for the removal of all gendered rules within Irish dance, which would ultimately destroy the sport as we know it. Though, pretending that boys can fairly compete against girls will have the same effect.

Ireland was once proud of its people and culture. But the post-1970s generation of Irish elites prefer to follow the example of American progressives who tout society-changing immigration and transgenderism.

“The only current recourse is for parents and competitors to speak out against the injustice of gender ideology, especially for girls,” McKneely said.

But the political shift in the association also ensures that parents are fearful of speaking out.

“My husband could lose his job,” the mother of a girl who competed against the boy told the Daily Signal. “I could lose my job. I’m afraid my child might be chastised or, you know, not allowed to compete in other Irish dancing. This is what she loves. This is her passion.

“My heart breaks for my daughter and the other girls that are having to deal with this,” the woman said, adding, “They just look at it as unfair … And it’s really hard to explain to them what’s going on … what society is making them do.

“As a mom, I want to be an advocate for my daughter,” she said. “But at the same time, I have to protect my family.”

Many polls show that the elite-backed transgender ideology is increasingly unpopular with ordinary Americans. But most mainstream Republican politicians are speaking against the ideology.

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Matt Perdie / Breitbart News