#TeamNavratilova is gathering pace!

Chris Evert! twitter.com/ChrissieEvert

I don't understand why female athletes aren't boycotting events.

What's the tally with supportive sports women? We could do with more who are still competing. It's going to effect their livelihoods if TRA have their way not to mention everything they've worked for.

If trans women had an advantage in sport, why aren’t trans women winning gold medals left, right & centre? Coz trans women don’t have an advantage.

As I wrote elsewhere, the lack of dolphin success in Olympic swimming events shows that dolphins do not have an inherent advantage over humans in their swimming abilities.

India W does at least think for herself on trans matters, I'll give her that.

India has been attacked by the TRA extremists in the past, for her opinions.

I'm blocked by India W on Twitter because India W hates Mumsnet and I stood up for Mumsnet.

Glad to see India supporting Martina on this, along with other transwomen like Debbie Hayton.

Women have had to fight for decades for decent representation in sport - and we're still nowhere near actual equality. Allowing male-born people to just identity their way into women's sports will just devastate it. We're only just seeing the beginning now.

It's not just about medals - players like Hannah Mouncey are a danger to other female players - their sheer height and strength stands out like a beacon.

I don't think Boy George is an expert either on sport or women, tbh. Hopefully he'll read a few of the replies to his tweet and realise that was a pretty silly thing to say.

Anyone else feel a little teary eyed this afternoon?!!

Me, reading this thread. When Martina came out I was a young, not-quite-out lesbian (it was hard in the early 80s) and she was one of the first positive role models I had - her coming out was hugely influential on me, and I've had the greatest of respect for her ever since. I'm not at all surprised that she's the first woman sporting superstar to have the courage to speak out on the damage being done to women's sports. If you'd asked me to predict who would be first off the blocks, I'd have said Martina all the way. She's handled this beautifully - she responded respectfully and with dignity to McKinnon's allegations, refused to be bullied, went away and did her research so that she could speak from a properly informed position, and then went for it. She's brilliant, and I hope young women in sports will realise what they owe her.

So, Boy George wrote:

"It's not just gender that gives a person power, agility or speed. You could argue that anyone who lives too near snow has an advantage on the slopes. Or if you come from Africa and running is in your blood? It's too much of a generalisation."

I keep seeing this, but it's ludicrous, isn't it? If he really thought that biological sex was like those things (he says gender, but he means sex), then we should do away with sex-segregation in sport altogether. We'd let men and women compete against each other in athletics, in shot putting, in swimming, in tennis. The reason we don't do that is because we know women wouldn't stand a chance.

What he - and others - are proposing, though, is not that we do away with sex segregation altogether, but that we keep sex segregation and make exceptions to it for certain individuals. This makes no sense whatsoever. He should at least have the sense to take his own argument to its logical conclusion.

I'm conflicted. On the one hand we have Martina and Dame Kelly, both sportswomen, top of their game, years of practical and administrative experience in sport...

But on the other hand we have Boy George, who has such wonderful taste in hats.

Excellent.

Running is apparently an African genetic marker. Amazing.

Why is anyone disappointed in Boy George...why does anyone care what her thinks? I never gave a shit stopped caring when he battered a sex worker.

Anyone else feel a little teary eyed this afternoon?!!

Really disappointed with Boy George though his point is kind of pointless.

RiverTam you could be right and hopefully this will be the nudge.

#TeamNavratalova

I love this tweet from transactualUK
If trans women had an advantage in sport, why aren’t trans women winning gold medals left, right & centre? Coz trans women don’t have an advantage. Look up the changes that oestrogen makes to the body.

Obviously they haven't noticed that transwomen are winning lift, right and centre.

I thought Boy George was GC? But I don't know why I thought that

I got that impression because of how BG says it's OK for men to wear makeup and be feminine, BG has never claimed to be trans despite being very GNC (unlike Eddie Izzard eg who now claims to be trans).

It seems BG's GC thoughts start and end at the makeup, they don't follow through to actual differences between the sexes.

This gave me The Rage. (Runs around town throwing bricks through windows screaming MEN, ARE, NOT, WOMEN.)

On that Boy George Twitter Thread... Mostly comments calling him out on his ignorance.
Haven't noticed BG coming back onto the thread tho despite scrolling lots.
Maybe he mis-wrote? Maybe BG will publicly apologise?

India is looking out for Indiaself. They have read the room, which is fair enough, because everyone but the aggressively blinkered knows that Martina is right. So India knows that being on the right side of popular opinion here will play well for them

India objects to the massive reach of the Stonewall trans umbrella because they are aware that it jeopardizes their access to certain things due to a potential backlash.

The common theme here is India's self interest. Compare and contrast with Martina who had no reason to stick her neck out at all.

I thought Boy George was GC? But I don't know why I thought that... I think some people here said it. Has he changed his tune or was it never true of him in the first place?

Reckon McKinnon and co are The Church of the Poisoned Mind

I hope George is reading this

I'm conflicted. On the one hand we have Martina and Dame Kelly, both sportswomen, top of their game, years of practical and administrative experience in sport...

But on the other hand we have Boy George, who has such wonderful taste in hats.

George needs to go away and do something thinking.

IW used to have a phobia of men dressed as women.

India has blocked me for some obscure reason! Not even my GC ranty account!

I had to check India was the person I was thinking about, it seemed so unlikely.

Just picking my jaw off the floor.

Mind you, India could never fully voice India's issue over drag queens, and I think I'm starting to see a few reasons why, it's just India didn't get it fully (and it was all about India obviously.)