Minnesota’s political culture and certain sports policies are shown here as out of step with broader public concerns about safety and common sense.

I have family in Duluth I haven’t seen in years, and memories of visits stretch back decades. What started as a private frustration with relatives has become a broader critique of a state’s cultural direction. The tone of debate in Minnesota feels, to me, disconnected from reality on issues that matter to women and girls.

That disconnect shows up in arenas you might not expect, like professional sports. The WNBA and its coach Cheryl Reeve have become focal points in a wider fight over locker-room policies and safety. Reeve’s comments are a good example of how language from leadership can dismiss legitimate concerns.

There is one part of her remarks I’d like to specifically address. “I don’t think we should feel like our safe space is being threatened,” Reeve said. “It’s not the case that we have quote biological men in girls’ locker rooms. The way it’s being phrased, the innuendo there is that somehow transgender women are predators of some kind in the locker room. There’s s a lot of narrative that is problematic that we need to address.”

That quote deserves to be taken seriously for what it is: a framing that reduces a pattern of incidents to mere narrative. Reality, however, includes documented cases of predatory behavior committed by biological males who exploited inclusive policies. Naming those cases isn’t rhetoric; it’s factual.

Richard Cox is one example who was identified as a biological male and a convicted sex offender who targeted women’s spaces. There have been multiple incidents at gyms and fitness centers where men entered women’s restrooms or pretended to be women to film or expose themselves. These are not isolated anecdotes; they reflect a pattern that affects victims and families.

https://x.com/JackThompsonFOX/status/2083632974793445883?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

One headline case involved a man caught masturbating in a women’s gym bathroom at a national fitness chain. Other reports described men pretending to be women to film in locker rooms, and women being banned after protesting the presence of a man in their locker room. Across several states, girls were reportedly forced to undress in front of biological boys or face punishment.

Data compiled by reporters and advocates has painted a grim picture for women and girls in certain settings with trans-inclusive policies. In one analysis, incidents amounted to roughly three crimes per week against women and girls in such locker rooms, which works out to about 156 crimes in a year. Even one such case should be unacceptable, yet leadership often treats these incidents as if they are only part of an abstract debate.

When a coach seeks to call these stories a “narrative,” she dismisses the victims and the patterns that make parents and communities nervous. The political impulse to prioritize ideology over safety has consequences beyond soundbites. Women and girls deserve policies that protect their privacy and dignity without turning a blind eye to criminal behavior.

The argument that inclusive policies automatically mean safety for everyone collapses when predators exploit those policies for sexual gratification. Calling victims’ testimony narrative is an insult to real people who were filmed, assaulted, or worse. Accountability from institutions, including sports leagues, should be nonnegotiable.

One blunt way to expose hypocrisy would be for a man to seek full access to WNBA locker rooms as a player or coach with no restrictions. The reaction from league officials and players would reveal whether rhetoric matches practice. If leadership truly believes there is no risk, those same leaders should welcome such a test and stand behind their words.

Outside Minnesota’s most committed leftist circles, this debate breaks down into a common-sense split: the majority favors policies that protect women and girls. Leaders who ignore that reality will find themselves on the losing side of both public opinion and safety. Policy should follow facts, not fashionable narratives, and institutions must be held responsible when they fail to protect the vulnerable.