Emily bridges may have to wait 2 years to compete against women in British cycling

[GretaGip]

In today's Daily mail.Dm article

AIBU to think the tide might be turning?

Im confused - so this person is still competing or has been very recently competing, competitively, in mens races, but now they are also saying they should be able to compete in women’s races and there’s no advantage? My brain hurts.

It’s a step in the right direction. It’s been increased to two years because that’s the “minimum” time it takes for muscle mass to reduce to a level closer to that of a woman. So for some trans athletes it will take longer, which begs the question why not make it 5 years, or 10 years, or never!

Also, none of this takes into account the advantage of having a male sized body. Even with reduced muscle mass these athletes will be taller, broader and possibly have larger king capacity.

I would be much happier if they just had their own category. That would be the fairest solution for all.

Yanbu but a 2 year wait will not change the facts that Emily Bridges' body has gone through male puberty and has been permanently affected by that in ways that no surgery or hormone treatment can compensate for. There is no waiting period that can make facts be different. There is no way for Emily Bridges to compete on a level playing field with women who bodies are not affected in this way. The "mens" category in cycling (and in every other sport where these issues are happening) should be abolished and replaced with an "open" category where any woman, whatever her biology or gender history, has every right to compete, and Emily Brudges will theb have an appropriate category to compete in. What's the justification for a category being "Men's" rather than "Open"?

Genuine question - are there any trans men competing in professional sport?

I always hear about trans women, but are there any trans men at that level, and if so, do they compete in men or women’s categories?

I’m imagining the reverse is true for them, and they are disadvantaged in men’s sport - so have never really heard about them campaigning to be allowed to compete against men (unless I missed it). Which is quite telling I think.

I can - just about - have a small shred of sympathy for Emily. Emily was born male and has therefore grown up with male entitlement. Emily has probably also received endless validation for Emily’s decision to transition and told that yes, Emily is a woman and will be able to compete as such and all Emily needed to do was reduce testosterone levels and bingo! Woman status. Biological reality has brought that crashing down, rules have been changed and plenty of people are now saying the emperor has no clothes Emily is not a woman, which all it marks something of a reversal of fortunes which, if you’ve only ever been patted on the back and told how brave you are, must be something of a shock.

It’s a vanishingly small shred though. The vast, VAST amount of my sympathy lies with women pushed out of their own sports categories, missing out on placings, medals and recognition, for someone who should never have been there in the first place.

That's because you're thinking about what you're being told to accept. Bad person assigned female at birth. Stop thinking.

i voted yabu because I optimistically had thought that they’d changed their minds about men in womens sports completely, so this feels really demoralising again.

I suppose it's a step in the right direction, but males should never compete in female sports anyway so it doesn't feel like a victory when all they have to do is wait a couple of years.

I love reading about the trans issues because it feels so easy compared to climate change, refugees and rape statistics. Still riles me up though

Im confused - so this person is still competing or has been very recently competing, competitively, in mens races, but now they are also saying they should be able to compete in women’s races and there’s no advantage? My brain hurts.

Yes, Bridges was part of the Nottingham Uni men’s team pursuit in the student championships in February. They came 3rd. Bridges was happily accepted by team mates in doing so. Bridges was doing that while waiting to meet the original criteria to be able to switch over to women’s cycling, because cycling competitively, winning medals, and having the support of teammates isn’t enough for Bridges, apparently. It demonstrates clearly that it is all about identity and validation, not remotely about “just want to ride a bike.”

If the governing body had held firm from the outset and not even entertained these pathetic fixes faffing about with testosterone levels that would have been clearer and fairer to all.

It is not good enough. Women’s sports are for women not xy chromosome people who think you can feel you way into a sex.

To be honest, I would have thought anyone who's regularly taking hormone supplements should be staying away from competitive sports. Can you imagine, even if there was a special trans category, there'd be the same arguments between those who had taken every medical step and those who simply "identified as" while keeping the balls and beard. I've no sympathy for Bridges, they need to learn that there are trade-offs in life, and take some responsibility. That said, if they've got to this place by age 21, they have probably not had the best influences on them.

Good. Emily can compete against other men

they did this year & got a placed just a month before wanting to race in the omnium

Can you imagine, even if there was a special trans category, there'd be the same arguments between those who had taken every medical step and those who simply "identified as" while keeping the balls and beard

this ^^

Veronica Ivy, formerly known as Rachel McKinnon, also a cyclist who manages to wangle themselves onto places like CNN, argues that Ivy should not even have to lower testosterone because it’s an infringement on Ivy’s rights because Ivy has a female body and therefore the testosterone levels are female levels.

'Emily' Bridges should NEVER be allowed to compete against females, any more than 'Lia' Thomas should. If your sex is male then you should compete against other males.

The only one I have heard about is Iszac Henig a us swimmer who trans to male but has delayed hormones and surgery so that they can still compete in womens sport. Kind of well I am a bloke but not when it comes to sport as I can’t win against them now can I.

There’s no place for any man in women’s sport. Or any other place that is for women. It still amazes me that it needs saying.

It's a small step in the right direction, but a blanket 'no' would have been better!

I veer between hope and despair on this issue I'm afraid. I think we are making progress, then I try to have a discussion with friends and get totally ignored. Feels like so many people won't even engage on the topic, they're so concerned with being seen to 'be kind'.

Sorry slight wrong in saying Iszac Henig has delayed all surgery as they have had their boobs cut off but no other surgery and no hormone treatments that would make them ineligible for womens swimming. They swim for Yale at college level.

I feel for Emily who is drawn to competitive sport but just because someone wants to compete doesn’t mean they should be allowed to if they don’t have the required pre-requisites.
My friend’s son was devastated that he couldn’t fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a navy pilot when he started to have epilepsy as a teenager. And no-one would argue that he should be allowed - it’s just a piece of rotten luck that changes the course of a life.
It’s tough for Emily too that her need to transition is not compatible with her desire to compete in sport. Simply that - tough. She and other trans-athletes need to move on

Is Bridges going to spend that two years having skeletal reconstruction to change pelvic shape and femur angle, heart surgery to reduce its size (ditto lungs), neurotherapy to change muscle twitch times, blood transfusions to alter blood oxygen levels, and anti-lipo to change the body muscle:fat ratio…?

Im guessing not, so Bridges will retain all the advantages of male body other than the testosterone levels.
Women’s sport is not a consolation prize for mediocre male athletes.

(ps I voted yanbu as I think the tide is changing BUT, as my post may hint at, there is no way males belong in women’s sport)

(Oh and of course I’m not comparing epilepsy and being trans)

I am going on the assumption that by the two years this whole nonsense will have been sorted out.
even the stonewall-biased reporting of the public’s “lack of interest” in these issues acknowledged that most people do not think TW should be competing against women in sport.