In Connecticut, two teenage boys who identify as girls have come 1st and 2nd in the girls' 100m sprint

[OrchidInTheSun]

twitter.com/GameTimeCT/status/1003739370736816129

Reposted from Feminism Chat as more people need to see this.

Neither Miller nor Yearwood have got times that would be remotely remarkable for boys (200th and 443rd respectively) but they are smashing the girls' records out of the park as now they identify as girls, they're allowed to race them instead.

Watch the face of the girl who comes third. That's pretty much her best ever 100m race. But she didn't win.

Self identification means this kind of thing will keep on happening. If you value women's sport and think that women and girls deserve to compete on a level playing field, please sign the petition: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/214118

YANBU, absolutely not. It makes a mockery of women’s and girls’ sport.

"Maybe everybody competing together regardless of gender/sex is the right way to do it. By having female only competitions your basically saying that they are inferior to boys so have to have their own special competitions so they can have a turn at winning."

Are you deliberately being obtuse? Sports are split into male and female to level the playing field and to make things fair (as much as possible). It's not about having a "turn at winning".

Good point about USA and colleges. Boys who want to go to college but don't excel at sport can now self ID their way into taking girls' places.

There was a film in the 80s about a teenage boy who "blacked up " in some way to take a college place meant for African Americans. Can't remember the name of the film but obviously the plot is that he gets his comeuppance. I can't see how this is any different tbh

Babel fish- Point well made. Although actually here it’s worse. A least an 8 year will be 18 one day. A female runner will never be a man.

YADNBU OP well done for drawing people’s attention to this.

We need a simple cheap DNA test that can be used to qualify entrants for any competitive sport.

Ah. Apparently it's called Soul Man.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soul_Man_(film)

By having female only competitions your basically saying that they are inferior to boys so have to have their own special competitions so they can have a turn at winning.

Acknowledging biological differences is not saying girls are inferior. We have male and female sport for a reason. No matter how hard the female trained, they would still be beaten by a male, and the male may not even have to put too much effort into it.

If you are fine with this, are you also fine with doping? Its pretty much the same thing. People who are doping will have a huge advantage over the rest of the competitors who are competing fairly. I seem to recall huge uproars about certain people doping..so it appears unfair advantages matter when its men who are being cheated. Hmm.

Would you say that a team of eight year old boys playing rugby was inferior to a team of 18 year olds? Or would you sensibly note that letting an eight year old and an eighteen year old who are physically very different in strength and size is madness and likely to lead to serious injury or death?

Yes, this is probably a better analogy than doping.

As was the able bodied person entering the paralympics and winning that someone said at some stage.

So silly

Let’s get rid of the weight criteria for men’s boxing then eh?

Wladimir Klitschko up against any bantamweight you choose - I mean it’s all just feelings isn’t it? Or are lighter fighters inferior?

Or is it fucking insane to consider putting a six foot six heavyweight up against say, Anir Khan?

Even non contact rowing has introduced lightweight crews because it is recognised that a physically average person won't be able to make it into a "normal" crew. Difference is not inferiority but unless you seriously think we should also get rid of weight categories in boxing/martial arts, para sports and age category for kids sports/veterans then it's OK to acknowledge physical difference.

No wonder longlostpal disappeared and hasn't come back after gems like this: "Hmm I find it hard to worry about this tbh. I’ve never won a race myself! Maybe we should stop putting so much emphasis on tests of physical strength/speed etc. Seems to me that these things are inherently patriarchal."

"I've never won a race myself." What's it got to do with your athletic abilities?

How can you miss the whole idea of what sport is about? And has been for thousands of years. People compete because they want to, because they have a talent. It gives them a chance to shine at something. Yet you want to take that away. And how are they "inherently patriarchal"? What an absurd thing to say.

Males should never compete against females in sport, unless in a sport where it makes no difference such as equestrian sports.

even those clamouring for a change in accepted hormone levels so that transgender sports participants have no advantage are wrong. It is not all about hormones.

Males develop more dense (and therefore stronger) muscle fibre, they ahve greater lung capacity, they have a different shaped pelvis that lends to a completely different running stride. They typically have longer limbs and stronger tendons, even their knee caps differ in structure to a females FFS.

I don't care if John then decides to grow his hair and call himself Suzie, Suzie is still male bodied and has a greater physical advantage than a biological female.

This is so depressing. Poor girls.

Universities give sports scholarships on the basis of what you will win for them while you're a student. Are male students who identify as females allowed to compete in women's college or national or international sports? I'm not really well informed about this stuff.

If they're not allowed to, then I doubt very much they'll get the scholarships - they wouldn't be a good investment for the college.

Semester, yes, trans people are allowed to compete as their chosen gender in adult competitions too. Including the Olympics, FFS

I think these sporting bodies have been persuaded to make changes by trans lobbyists but have failed to consider public perception of the new policy.

People who are passionate about sport hate cheating. When they see visibly male athletes winning female events they're going to be angry.

I'm sure sport will peak trans loads of people who've never given the issue a second thought. A lot of men love sport and the world takes a lot more notice of what men think, sadly.

My brother at the age of 16 had a father 100m sprint time than the women’s winner at the Olympics that year.

Women and Men will never be able to compete against each other as biologically they don’t stand a chance.
The world has gone mad. How people live their lives is entirely up to them, but this is just the world going bloody crazy.

I recently read that a transgender was complaining because she wasn’t offered a smear test for cervical cancer. She was born Male so has no bloody cervix. What the fuck is wrong with people.

I seriously worry about the world I’m bringing my children into. It’s just gone mental.

*faster

In 10 years time the government will be complaining about overweight unfit girls and women. It'll be due to the fact that we'll all have been forced out of sport and fitness by men.

Semester, yes, trans people are allowed to compete as their chosen gender in adult competitions too. Including the Olympics, FFS

Blimey - I wasn't away of that. Very depressing :-(

aware, not away

I’ve decided to identify as disabled so I can compete against disabled people in the Paralympics!!

Ffs!

""Maybe everybody competing together regardless of gender/sex is the right way to do it. By having female only competitions your basically saying that they are inferior to boys so have to have their own special competitions so they can have a turn at winning.""

And this is where MRA and TRA are absolutely in line.

On the one hand you have a bunch of angry men saying "Ha! You asked for equality, let have all sports mixed and see how you get on eh? Gotcha!" and on the other side you have TRA and supporters saying variously that sex is irrelevant to sport, that sex is a social construct and gender is real (!), that sport should be gender based not sex based.

Essentially both sides want to see an end to women's sport. A lot of men all over the world reallyl do feel that sport is "for men" - women are "allowed" to do it if they look fairly decorative while doing so but generally they think "what's the point" and "waste of time" about women competing at sport. TRA and their supporters seem to be aiming for A grade sports (men) B grade sports (men in skirts) and the cunty people back to the sidelines with the sandwiches.

I think it is no coincidence that this comes when women's sport is starting to get more airtime, sponsorship, stars etc.