Open Letter to The IOC regarding transwoman Tiffany Abreu

If you say “trans women should not compete because they are not women” you will get absolutely nowhere.

There are plenty of reasons discussed up thread and elsewhere on this site which break down in great detail why an absence of sex segregation will ruin women’s sports and that is what will have the effect we are looking for.

So why did the Olympic Committee nullify all those records and medals of Eastern Bloc female athletes who had been made by their coaches to take steroids?
But now it's OK for be a "female" athlete with T levels significantly higher than most natal women?

What I said was nuanced. I didn’t say you need to acknowledge trans women are women, I think you need to argue that sex and gender segregation are different things.

To appeal to an audience which can actually effect change, you need to avoid the discussion degenerating into TWAW vs TWAM. You don’t need to win that argument in order to push for sex segregation.

Oh come on DadJoke
“If your language assumes that trans women are not women”

They aren’t women.

Do you really think the man on the street or white van man or the man on the Clapham Omnibus really thinks TW are actually women?!

@DadJoke

There are men, women and men who ID as women. There are also women who ID as men, but they don't seem to create many problems, in fact you hardly ever hear from them.
Nobody should be forced to ignore biological differences in order to push a political agenda.
Please do not think that nobody outside Mumsnet will accept that trans women are not women, because you are very much mistaken.

Transwomen are not women and we should not be made to say so

Only 19% of the general population are prepared to say 'trans women are women', so I disagree with that statement that no one will listen for that reason.

If no one listens to women, its yet another symptom of misogyny, and the fact that women are not trans women.

VickyEadie if your language assumes that trans woman are not women then no one outside mumsnet will listen to you. We need to frame this in terms of sex versus gender segregation to make progress. It’s quite possible to do this without it being read as transphobia.

Just the height. It confers massive advantage and lowering T doesn't shrink people to average female height.

Women's height is far more 'clustered' than men's. Around 5 5/5 6. Men's is more varied and men are routinely over 6 2. It's quite rare for a woman to be over 6 2.

What possible tests or restrictions would provide a level playing field under these circumstances?

Not letting men compete with women is the only restriction which is fair. It's why we separate men and women in sport in the first place.

Yes I think the US will start to field loads of transwomen. Its not as if they have to made any medical changes. And then the US may come to dominate the whole of womens sport. It will be like the East Germans all over again.

Ugh. Just followed a mention in the comments about a NZ trans cyclist and came across this
www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=12002309
"Weatherly noted that she hadn't won every race since making the switch - finishing second to Rawson at an event in Canterbury earlier in the month.

"There's that whole conversation of fairness in the sport, but I've been beaten by other chicks in the sport. It's not like I'm winning every race.""

Other chicks! Competed as a man until December, then as a woman in January. New Zealand seems to have hit on a cunning plan for winning internationally - remember the weigh-lifter?

Thus it starts. I don't think it will really hit public consciousness until a major track event such as the 100m is completely dominated by a late transitioning transwomen. It make absolute sense for those who pick teams to pick the best people for their squads, so why wouldn't you pick a 6' 3" volley ball player who is better than anyone else? They are just following the IOC rules.

While transwomen are rare, it's very likely that because of this they will be selected for the Olympics in disproportionate numbers. And if someone high up the mens' rankings transitions, which is bound to happen, they will utterly dominate their sport.

It's clear the testesterone measurement does nothing to deal with this issue. It's possible there are other things that could be done - but I really can't work out what they are. What possible tests or restrictions would provide a level playing field under these circumstances?

Amazing letter. Needs to be shared on social media No one I know in real life knows any of this. That’s the scary part.

Yes, yes, and yes. Not into sport but this is just unfair. Period.

"It represses, embarrasses, humiliates and excludes women.
We currently look on as sporting entities blind themselves to human biology, in an attempt to hoodwink science in the name of politico-ideological agendas. We currently look on a moral perversion against women and the complicity of sport authorities around the world in a supreme form of misogyny."

In a nutshell.
Has anyone forwarded this letter to those researchers at Loughborough university?

This makes me so cross and I really cannot understand why people aren't speaking out. This is the easy one to speak out on!
It is blatantly unfair. Men should NEVER be allowed to compete against women in segregated sports.

"which they only have to show for one year to be able to compete"

Yes it is fucking ridiculous. My husband was on E and T blockers for a total of 2 years. By the time he desisted he could still EASILY physically overpower me, Like without even trying at all. And he's a completely average guy.

But Ask anyone in the TransWidows thread the same. Or anyone who has been intimate with a transwoman. It's not all about the hormones.

(note - don't report as his pronouns both are and were always male)

Abreu is a big fat cheat. Completely third rate as a bloke, now Olympic contender. Fuck off with that.

Brava, Ana

Fantastic letter and completely makes sense on every point. I hope she gets an adequate answer, or it makes people think more rationally about these issues. Eg why is the net lower in women’s game compared to men’s. Look at the height of the transwoman - it’s clear what advantage their height, strength etc brings
I’d love to see this letter picked up by bigger media outlets

I find myself boiling with anger on a daily basis about the sport issue alone.

HOW can the IOC set the T level (which they only have to show for one year to be able to compete) at such a high level and think that's fair? Of course, the fact that being born male confers a physical advantage which lowering testosterone never obliterates (it doesn't even bring the advantage down close) is thus entirely ignored.

Its frightening how fast that has been normalised.

Was this letter written in March 2018? It is very well written and I agree with every word of it. I dont understand how anyone couldnt.

That's a brilliant letter.
I don't blame any sportswoman for not speaking out - including Clare Baldwin. The trans aggressors are just waiting on the sidelines to trash reputations with their normal vile threats and gaslighting.