To think Laurel Hubbard should not be competing against other women

[Belle82]

I know I am going to get ripped apart for this.

I have no problem with the transgender community, that is your life/body and I am not one to judge anyone else, do what makes you happy.

There is something fundamentally wrong about a person who is biologically a man competing against a woman in sport as significant as weightlifting.
I am not taking anything away from women weightlifters, however when competing in that sport, a person who was born a man will always have an unfair advantage over a woman.

I am all for equal rights but it seems political correctness has now put us in a position that we will only consider the equal rights of those in the transgender community. What happens to the equal rights of all the other women who have worked extremely hard to get to the olympics who should be competing against biological women.

There needs to be clearer cut criteria on entrance requirements to every sport, to give every person the equal rights they deserve.

My heart goes out to all the other women competing who I’m sure must be somewhat disheartened about their chances of success now they are competing against a biological man.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jul/29/ioc-praises-weightlifter-laurel-hubbard-ahead-of-transgender-athletes-olympic-debut

Unless they feign an injury or pull out
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hubbard pulls out. I think the lobbyists who I imagine leaned on the IOC and other sporting federations have, for now at least, lost control of the narrative. They will know that and I can well imagine Hubbard, who we know has a history of injuries, might be coming under pressure. But if it does happen, I think it's really important not to let the matter drop.

I would think that a 6ft 8 broadly built basketball player would greatly enhance the results of this female college team and as far as I am aware sporting success is very important in US colleges.

As a PP said, why is it that they all seem to identify as young women/ girls? Given their age range, it would be more appropriate for them to identify as a post menopausal woman. But I guess that's not sexy enough.

I don't think AGP males are normally satisfied by the thought of imagining themselves as a post-menopausal woman, that isn't part of the fantasy. I assume they want to imagine they are being seen as the same women they are attracted to.

The general public aren't buying it and neither are the women on here.

They think by keeping the discussions to the naughty corner that it means no one else is GC. Pure arrogance and male entitlement.

These males are the oppressors not the oppressed.

This video shows true sportsmanship, a decent honourable human being. Something you'll never be Laurel Hubbard. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.

It is always very heartening to see these poll results. It must certainly infuriate some posters who smugly tell other posters that those Supporting female rights are the extreme minority.

Simply infuriating to have to admit that they are in fact the minority and are bullies trying to silence women.

I saw someone suggest on Twitter that the other weightlifters deliberately fault all their lifts leaving Hubbard to win Gold. Another option would be for the other weightlifters to just not come to the platform, they would get timed out after a minute or two.

Would be a powerful statement of protest, if too much to ask of the athletes. Also the IOC takes a dim view of anything deemed political so there might be repucussions for anyone involved in such a stunt. But still, would be quite the statement.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hubbard pulls out.
She's actually a very quiet and thoughtful individual who is under a hell of a lot of pressure.
It's the IOC who should be held to account for this mess, not her.

YANBU

The IOC's rules are a cowardly fudge, and in taking advantage of them to compete against women Hubbard shows that Hubbard is a cheat.

I dont know Hubbard personally so can’t comment on their personality

I do wonder how thoughtful a person can be though if they’re happy to stand on the top of a podium knowing they had a male puberty with all that entails and see the two women desperately unhappy women standing below them and not think “am I doing the right thing?”

I suspect Hubbard is very thoughtful about Hubbard and what Hubbard wants, about women possibly not so much

@erinaceus

I saw someone suggest on Twitter that the other weightlifters deliberately fault all their lifts leaving Hubbard to win Gold. Another option would be for the other weightlifters to just not come to the platform, they would get timed out after a minute or two.

Would be a powerful statement of protest, if too much to ask of the athletes. Also the IOC takes a dim view of anything deemed political so there might be repucussions for anyone involved in such a stunt. But still, would be quite the statement.

Why should (once again) women miss out on their hard earned opportunities though??

The video I linked to at 17.31 is just 3 minutes long and demonstrates a totally different attitude to that taken by Laurel Hubbard. Really worth a watch.

I'm sure all female athletes and sportswomen who face being displaced by transwomen are being pretty thoughtful this weekend too.

Don't worry, I have plenty of contempt to go round for everyone complicit in this shitshow.

For those unaware, in 2019 Dr Emma Hilton outlined the process which led to the IOC decision to make women's sports mixed sex and the science that supports protecting women and girls' sports as single sex.

'A Woman's Place is on the Podium: Emma Hilton (10 July 2019)'

Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist and University Lecturer. She has published more than twenty manuscripts on developmental biology and genetics and was named Outstanding Young Investigator by the European Society of Human Genetics, for her research.

She spends her days picking through mammalian reproductive systems, and in her leisure time she is a marathon runner, weightlifter and netballer. A strong advocate for women and girls, Emma tweets as @FondofBeetles."
A transcript of this speech is available here fairplayforwomen.com/emma_hilton/

I suspect Hubbard is very thoughtful about Hubbard and what Hubbard wants, about women possibly not so much

I suspect this too. Thoughtful? If they were so thoughtful they would not use their advantage to disadvantage females.

So, I also disagree. They may be quiet. But they are not thoughtful really.

@MsTSwift

I don’t understand the emphasis on “being inclusive” but the end result is actually excluding women.

This . 100% this

@Guineapigbridge

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hubbard pulls out. She's actually a very quiet and thoughtful individual who is under a hell of a lot of pressure. It's the IOC who should be held to account for this mess, not her.

She may be quiet, but she's not thoughtful of the other competitors at all.

She's 43 years old. Competing as her sex, or if she'd been born female, either way, her Olympic hopes would have been long over by now.

This transition, even if it's just a serendipitous side effect, has bought her another bite at the cherry.

The cherry was someone else's to bite. Someone else lost out so that she could be at these games.

That's the very definition of selfish.

@00100001 I don’t think that they should. I think it would be a powerful statement. One could make a “greater good” type argument, was one so inclined.

I do to an extent wonder if transwoman athletes are shunned by/bullied by the women they compete against. It would be hard to be sportsmanlike if one was beaten by a transwoman, I think.

I wish people would stop painting Laurel as the victim in this.
No one forced Hubbard to enter. Hubbard can't possibly be unaware of the dreams crushed by their inclusion.
It doesn't wash.

@Guineapigbridge

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Hubbard pulls out. She's actually a very quiet and thoughtful individual who is under a hell of a lot of pressure. It's the IOC who should be held to account for this mess, not her.

He is a cheat. He's certainly not thinking about women and the pressure he's putting on them.

YANBU.

And where does it end? What happens when the equivalent of Hubbard wants to enter a boxing match?

@Spodge

YANBU.

And where does it end? What happens when the equivalent of Hubbard wants to enter a boxing match?

www.peaktrans.org/tag/fair-play-for-women/

Too late.

It would be hard to be sportsmanlike if one was beaten by a transwoman, I think.
Whereas a transwoman in sport is always sportsmanlike....

Was it Hannah Mouncey who left the women's handball team because although HM was allowed on the team the team didn't want to share the open changing room with HM.

YANBU. Males should not be competing in the women’s category. It’s utter nonsense to suggest they should.

Also, people find weightlifting and boxing obviously unfair but what about other instances where women lose out? This year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction long list had a book by a transgender author. Why, actually, is this any less unfair? A woman lost out on the opportunity to win the WPFF (£30,000), lost out on the extra publicity that comes with being long listed - publicity that not only boosts book sales but means her publishers are likely to offer her new contracts. It means more opportunity to have the book reviewed in the media and more kudos.
No one is STOPPING trans authors from entering prizes - there’s the Booker Prize, the Polari Prize etc. But taking the position on a woman only long list - isn’t that essentially just as unfair as what Hubbard is doing here?

The WPFF was set up to counter the balance that sees male authors dominate school reading lists, dominate reviews in the media and dominate awards. It existed for a reason and that reason hasn’t gone away.

Inclusivity often means women are excluded.