Justice Samuel Alito was on fire Tuesday during oral arguments in Little v. Hecox and utterly destroyed Kathleen R. Hartnett, the attorney representing a biological male student who wants to play sports on the girls’ team. His questioning cut right through activist jargon and forced the case onto solid legal ground, revealing just how contorted the arguments become when ideology collides with biological reality.
For instance, when transgender activists are asked a simple question — “What is a woman?” — the response is usually a circular word salad claiming that “a woman is anyone who identifies as a woman.” Using a word to define itself explains nothing, and that logical void is exactly what Alito went after, exposing how much of this ideology collapses under basic scrutiny.
“How can a court determine whether there’s discrimination on the basis of sex without knowing what sex means for equal protection purposes?” Alito asked Hartnett.
And Hartnett’s response was as telling as it was moronic.
She essentially punted, saying they would just accept the statute’s definition that the athlete in question “qualifies as a birth sex male” and was “being excluded categorically from the women’s teams.”
As usual, she wanted to have it both ways — accepting biological reality for the sake of argument while still claiming discrimination. Alito wasn’t about to let that slide.
He constructed a straightforward hypothetical of a student with male genes, a male reproductive system, who never took puberty blockers or hormones, never had surgery, but simply declares, “Nevertheless, I am a woman. That’s who I am.”
Recommended: Smells Like Hypocrisy: Nirvana Bassist Torches the Left’s Outrage Over Deportations
With that set up, he went ahead. “Can the school say, ‘No, you cannot participate on the girls’ team?'”
Hartnett stumbled through her response, seeking clarification about whether Alito meant “a birth sex male who has all the advantages of birth sex male hormones.” When Alito confirmed that’s exactly what he meant, she conceded, “Yes, they can” bar such a person from the women’s team.
But Alito pressed further with the question that matters: “Is that person not a woman in your understanding? If the person says, ‘I sincerely believe I am a woman. I am, in fact, a woman.’ Is that person not a woman?”
Hartnett’s answer exposed the entire charade. She claimed she would “respect their self-identity in addressing the person” but then admitted the real question is “does that person have a sex-based biological advantage that’s going to make it unfair for that person to be part of the women’s team?”
So much for identity determining reality.
Alito then delivered the coup de grâce, pointing out what Hartnett had just admitted: “So what you are seem to be saying is yes, it is permissible for the school to discriminate on the basis of transgender status because if this person is a trans woman, a trans girl, and is barred from the team, from the girls’ team, then that person is being subjected to differential treatment based on transgender status, right?”
Hartnett tried to recover by retreating into legal jargon about scrutiny tests and “the need to curtail unfair athletic advantage.” She even attempted to narrow the scope, insisting they weren’t asking the Court to decide whether “transgender women who have gone through puberty and have not suppressed their testosterone would be able to play on a men’s team.”
The exchange revealed what many already knew: the arguments for allowing biological males to compete against women collapse under even basic questioning. Frankly, I think it proves that even those who are advocating for these bizarre trans policies don’t buy what they’re selling either. Alito demonstrated that you cannot simultaneously accept biological reality for purposes of fairness while denying it for purposes of identity.
The emperor has no clothes, and Justice Alito made sure everyone could see it.
Want to support fearless journalism that exposes the Left and tells the stories the media won’t? PJ Media delivers the truth and holds the powerful accountable. Become a VIP member today—your support fuels our mission and unlocks exclusive content, podcasts, an ad-free experience, and more.
Use code FIGHT for 60% off. It’s a great time to join our movement. Join now and stand for America-first journalism!
