Transgender rower took woman’s place in Boat Race

Interesting article, thank you.

I suspect that you may be basing your comment on Rodrigo Pérez Ortega's paper "World Athletics banned transgender women from competing. Does science support the rule?"

Ortega seems to cherry pick from Harper et. al's paper, which stated: "Conclusion: In transwomen, hormone therapy rapidly reduces Hgb to levels seen in cisgender women. In contrast, hormone therapy decreases strength, LBM [lean body mass] and muscle area, yet values remain above that observed in cisgender women, even after 36 months. These findings suggest that strength may be well preserved in transwomen during the first 3 years of hormone therapy."

There's a critique of Ortega's paper, and of Harper's own research findings, here: https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2023/05/14/the-journal-science-promoting-athletic-competition-between-trans-women-and-biological-women-abjures-science-and-distorts-data/

That article also links to more recent research than Harper's that Ortega chose to ignore completely.

Citation needed!

This is so sad. I wish/hope they can go back and locate the woman who would've qualified in his place and give her the badge/seat she deserves - even if she was unable to participate in that race. Maybe it's time to erase these errors and rewrite history..

MerlinsLostMarbles · Yesterday 22:02
Also to point out we're discussing a transwoman talking part in an event that took place 8 years ago.

And for what it's worth, the team the transwoman was on didn't actually win.

The woman whose place he took missed out on the experience.

Also, even without winning it matters for this reason:

“When you’re in Blondie or one of the top boats, you’re part of an exclusive club. You’re allowed to get your Blondie blazer. It gives you access to this club of Blues and Half-Blues, and that stays with you for life. The woman who missed out in 2015 will never have her place in history. She won’t be part of that club. And I think that’s a shame. I feel for her.”

Yes.

It's denial to the point of delusion, the difference is baked in from conception, in utero. Pelvis size and configuration, male in every relevant cell. A male cannot ever stop being male.

This is sacrificing females to the point of and including injuring them in search of validation of wishful thinking. It is appalling misogyny.

I know, it's too frustrating. There's a thread about a Scottish hockey team that includes a male player. In the accompanying photo the team can be seen celebrating with a trophy, don't the ladies see how wrong it is? Ditto the cycling team that included a winning male.

Women taking part in team sports need to stand up to this a lot more.

That's what the guy who is the subject of this post said in his blog post.

Indeed 😕

Clutching at straws LostMarbles.
The woman cheated out of her place lost a half blue and lifetime membership of a prestigious club. I also believe you're misgendering? misidentifying the male born rower who today identifies as non binary?
Historical deceits are still wrong - even if they happened 8 years ago.

😂

Can we stop all this 'no physical difference if they take hormones' crap?
The physical advantage takes place long before puberty. Why do we have different growth charts for boys and girls from birth?

So infuriating that yet another biological female missed out on an opportunity so that a biological man could take part instead. I really hope the sport of rowing (and all sports) no longer enables this madness. People wonder why girls drop out of sport as teenagers/young women.. there are lots of reasons and being pushed to the side in favour of biological males is one- how disheartening.

That man and in fact the whole team cheated.
I am beginning to wonder if we women deserve to be erased. We fuck each over so easily.

• they cocked

the cocked this one up.

contrast the clarity and precision of the eligibility rule for the men's lightweight boat race: "For the men's race the average weight of the crew must not exceed 70 kg (154.3 lb / 11 st 0.3 lb), with no rower weighing over 72.5 kg (159.8 lb / 11 st 5.8 lb)."

with whatever rubbish passes for an eligibility rule for the women's boat race" 'er... be kind (to men)?'

There is a poster on this thread whose absolute contempt for women becomes more obvious with each comment.

Was it really necessary for this man to cheat a woman out of a place in the boat race?

“I wanted to take part in the Boat Race since I was a small kid and I was delighted when I got the chance”

should be: “As I wasn’t good enough to get in the men’s squad I was delighted to take away the opportunity from a woman who has probably dreamed of this since she was a small kid.”

”I wouldn’t have been able to enjoy it or reach my full potential without such an inclusive environment.”

should read: “The man-favouring environment meant a woman was unable to enjoy it or reach her full potential”

I'm baffled by this whole 'you must not look at or draw attention to the person busy fucking you over' thing.

Obsequiousness to male people using female ones is not really at the top of my list of priorities. Call me whatever names you feel like calling me for that, it says more about your misogyny than anything else.

This is the guy - do fuck off you do not belong in women's sport. You were born a man.

Claims of unfair advantages aren’t just shown to be groundless by studies of actual athletes, medical research is also against them. After a short period of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), trans people are completely physiologically similar to their cisgender counterparts. Everything from the haemoglobin content of their blood to their muscle sizes are within normal human variation. Side effects from HRT, such as weight gain, can actually place trans people at a disadvantage to other athletes, though this thought rarely crosses people’s minds.

As for cheating, in the entire 40 year history of sex verification procedures in international sport competitions, no instances of such ‘fraud’ have ever been found.

She won’t be part of that club. And I think that’s a shame. I feel for her.

Absolute shame for the real woman that missed out on this spot. Selfish entitled male wading in and taking whatever they want.

Oh now I’ve read the full thread I guess my apology / clarification should add please note you should of course feel welcome to decapitate new joiners. Or the reporting system. That is (as you should know) supported behaviour aligned with our culture. Thanks and have a great day!

I do this at work - here is the guy who will be joining our team. Or you need to click this arrow here before the report will generate. Perhaps I should go back and send out some disclaimers- dear all, I’d like to clarify the marked up image I sent out last week. In no way am I recommending you use the new joiner for target shooting. I actively do not support target shooting of new team members. Also, if you recall the tips I sent on generating the new report, please do not target shoot at our reporting system. Do not target shoot at your laptop. My humblest apologies if I have accidentally communicated that shooting at any of these things/people is recommended.

would that be helpful do you think? In case they are all confused like you?

So normal practice to highlight something in a photo is a concern to you?

But in the other thread you are trying to downplay a threat of decapitation of TERFs?

You might be using something of a double standard?