Maggie McKneely, Director of Government Relations, Concerned Women for America is pictured next to an image of female Irish dancers. (Getty Images/Fox News)
Speaking to Fox News Digital, McKneely lamented what she described as a "ripple-effect" caused by the male dancer being allowed to continue competing in the girls' division.
"Not only did a boy win the girl's title for his age category, placing the girl who got in second who should have been in first, but that also means that the girl who got in 11th did not qualify for Worlds because the top 10 dancers qualify for worlds. It means the girl who got 26th did not qualify for nationals because the top 25 qualify for nationals," she said. "You have a boy on top of the podium and all these girls who have dreamed and have set goals for different placements in their age category who were not able to make them because of this one boy disrupting the entire category."
CWA President and Founder Penny Nance also pointed to the chilling effect caused by male competition, arguing that the male's ability to compete "undermines young women" and makes them less likely to compete.
CALIFORNIA COLLEGE ATHLETICS ORGANIZATION FACES PROBE OVER TRANSGENDER POLICY
"We strongly encourage our Young Women for America members to be involved in sports. We think it's a great training proving ground," Nance said. "We know that the majority of women who make it to the C-suite are women who competed athletically in some way. And so it's good sociologically, it's good for women's identity, it is good for their bodies."
Meanwhile, when pressed on the importance of separating Irish dancing by sex, McKneely and Nance told Fox News Digital that Irish dancing is not just an art form, it is "an extremely athletic art form."
A female Irish dance competitor leaps in the air mid-competition. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
According to McKneely, a petition was sent to the governing bodies from dancers and parents who were unhappy with a male competing against females when the incident first happened in 2023, and their response was to vote on establishing a third category for people who are not biologically male or female, a sort of middle-road position.
However, McKneely said that the motion to take this action was ultimately tabled, and it never moved forward. She added that the bodies have been embroiled in a cheating scandal making them "allergic to legal threats" and afraid of upsetting folks who might sue them even further over sex-separation policies.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/irish-dancing-groups-torched-after-trans-dancer-allowed-to-qualify-world-championships