1/ You’re absolutely right—the “sports” fight isn’t about athletics, it’s about setting a precedent to deny recognition elsewhere. Trans athletes were already under science-based rules; the culture war just reframes fairness as exclusion. I completely agree with you here.
2/ For me, the issue isn’t morality in sports but the feeding frenzy around scholarships and the money tied to higher ed. For athletes from lesser means, those stakes are very real. CIF’s “two 1st places” approach feels less like a moral fight than an ethical one about material consequences.
3/ Touching upon your last point, you’ll hear no argument from me on the social/political front—said attacks on the trans community, on this point or any, range from the laughably ignorant to evil and inhumane. It's something of a trigger point for me.