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?

This.

Great to hear this very balanced and reasonable approach. Shame more can't adopt the same view.

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.

No one is denying Emily the opportunity to participate in competitive sport as evidenced by Emily's own competing history. The men's category is still very much open to Emily where Emily does rather well, although not as well as Emily does when racing women.

It's cheating and we are apparently bigots for having the temerity to say so.

They're kicking the can down the road in the hope that by then, enough people will have come to their senses and seen that not only does the emperor have no clothes, but nobody has any trouble identifying his sex.

And this is exactly how it should be, we make decisions everyday that potentially limit opportunities to us, this is no different.

Men have no place in woman's sports EVER

I think it’s a tiny bit of empathy for the disappointment Bridges must be feeling, the governing bodies haven’t exactly been clear, have they? That doesn’t mean I think Bridges should be competing against women ever - I don’t.

This is all so stupid.
We're going backwards.
More women suffer medication side effects because only men were historically allowed in drug trials.
More women die than men in car crashes because female test dummies are scaled-down male dummies.
WOMEN ARE NOT WEAK OR SCALED-DOWN MEN.
Men cannot compete in women's sports.

Only biological females belong in women’s sport.

Ideology has no place in sport and allowing men, however they see themselves, competing against women is wrong, surely there cannot be ethical, logical or fair arguments against this statement!!

I stand with female athletes 100% on this.

EB is still a fully intact male. That surgery isn't something you get back on your bike after, not for a bloody long time. Think about it. It's not a manicure, is it?
Fully intact, 6'2 male with male pelvis, male heart and lungs etc etc. None of that is negated by growing your hair, having a few jabs and whining in a TV interview.
No. The only unreasonable thing about any of this is that it's not FOREVER.

Two years? It should be forever. Bridges is a biological male. Men have no place in women's sports.

Zero sympathy for Bridges.

Good. Men like Emily have no place in women's sport. Bugger off back to the men's category.

I'd be happier if males didn't compete in female sports full stop

Caitlin Jenner makes my skin crawl but even he acknowledges plenty of residual strength even after years of hormone therapy.

What happens in two years, though?

Let's pray for the day when Andy Murray, waning in his power in the men's game, does us all a favour and enters the ladies at Wimbledon.

An Andy Murray, just on the wane. will beat the shit out of all female competitors and it is only then, when this abomination enters the main stream on everyone's telly that hopefully there will be a massive roar against it.

I’m rather grateful to Emily and Lia. They have forced the issue to become much more clear cut. It was noticeable that in recent surveys in UK and USA, the public attitude to keeping women’s sports restricted to natal women was much more pronounced than in the general ‘acceptance’ and ‘tolerance’ questions.

most people neither know nor care about the creeping encroachment on women’s lives by people who were not assigned female at birth but now have ……well, you know. The sight of Lia’s strapping shoulders and Emily’s muscular legs , their towering over the curvier competitors is a bit of a jolt. Emily’s whinging entitlement did her cause little good, I think .

If Thomas, Bridges, Hubbard and all the others had competed in their correct sex classes while wearing the women's gear for their sports, I'd have cheered them like crazy.

As it is, they can fuck right off.

I really hope Emily can eventually realise that Emily's feelings are not more important than fairness. Emily comes across as a self-involved narcissist, as do Lia Thomas and Laurel Hubbard.

Women and girls have to fight at every step in sport, right from when they are in strappy shoes and skimpy shorts as toddlers when their brothers are wearing trainers and comfortable clothes to having to fight for second rate coaching, second rate facilities and second rate pay. In 2019, the top 1,683 female footballers from the top football teams around the world, were paid in total, the same as the salary of one single male footballer (not including any of his sponsorship). In 2017 there was a review into sexism and bullying of female cyclists in British Cycling with one cyclist saying that British cycling was for men, by men - it seems nothing has changed - just now they want men in the women's section as well. The fact that the women's competition is seen as a place for hobbled men is obscene. How can this one man who is not good enough to be in the national team, receive so much attention, focus, discussion when that effort could be put into supporting women, reporting their achievements and paying them and it would benefit 100's of women and give hope and a feeling of pride to millions. Now, we just see how little men really think of women in sport and turn away. This is what our daughters and granddaughters have as the background noise when they consider putting effort into sport at any level.

Add it the odd "handsy" coach (gymnastics, I'm looking at you) and lo! our cup runneth over.

It's not testosterone that makes it unfair. I don't give a fuck about testosterone level.

it could be zero but going through puberty as a male with consequent bone and muscle strength, lung capacity etc that makes it unfair.

Absolutely.

Male puberty advantages and sliding into women's sports = cheating.

Or even a year if Bridges has been under the new limit for the last 12 months?

It’s kicking the can down the road. Again.

It would be better to grasp the nettle now and ensure that the female class remains as a protected class.

Wonderful post @ChateauMargaux

Good to know that male puberty gains re muscle mass, lung capacity, height etc etc disappear after 2 years without testosterone. Just look at Caitlyn Jenne,so tiny.