New poster + USAPL link

[Highwind]

Hi, new poster here but long time lurker.

I really want to thank the MN Feminism board for opening my eyes to the damage that is being done to women's rights a couple of years ago.

Everyday it seems there is another battle and I don’t feel like I can be silent any longer, because if I am silent then I am complicit in the removal of my rights, the rights of every woman living and those not-yet existing..... I would also be spitting on the sacrifices that grandma and her mum will have made to carve out a better life with better treatment for themselves and their children.

Anyways, what lead me to finally gathering the courage to post was first, the JK post. I posted what I thought was a really measured comment on my FB and got jumped on immediately by an old school friend who I still held in pretty high regard “but transgender people are attacked and murdered all the time”.... etc.

I tried showing her the studies and facts, prison statistics, criminality but she wasn’t willing to engage. I got told that I had become intolerant and to hit her up when I became a decent human being and not a transphobe. Then unfriended. I did get a few likes (and she got none!) which did lift my spirits somewhat.

I guess I thought that because I live in a really rural part of the UK, that the ideology wasn’t really noticeable here.... I think it struck me just how resistant to actual debate these people are. They cannot be reasoned with.

Anyways, I am done being completely silent. I can’t risk my job but I want to help anyways that I can.

Thanks for listening, heres a really informative piece by Powerlifting USA who have resisted the trans lobbies calls to put their woman lifters at a massive disadvantage in their own category.

Sorry if it has been posted before but I just found it incredibly revealing.

www.usapowerlifting.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/USA-Powerllifting-TUE-Committee-Report-2019.pdf

(Hope link posts)

Hi Highwind welcome to the coven

It’s been a bit noisy here the last few days, so your post got a little lost in the brouhaha.

Good idea to not piss off your female relatives and I’ve read that link before, but it was worth a re-read.

From the linked paper:

Conclusions
An important final thought: even in the current transgender IOC guidelines, it is stated, “these guidelines are a living document and will be subject to review in light of any scientific or medical developments.” They further state that “the overriding sporting objective is and remains the guarantee of fair competition. Restrictions on participation are appropriate to the extent that they are necessary and proportionate to the achievement of that objective (International Olympic Committee, 2015).”

Everyone deserves to feel safe and understood. Often times for the trans community, this right is made more difficult to achieve through societal norms and pressures. It is not the intent of this paper to demean or denounce the trans community. Rather, our goal is treat our athletes as fairly as possible, and to use science as a lens for understanding how to level the playing field for all.

As above, with an objective, honest evaluation of the extant literature, there is compelling reason to restrict transgender participation in our drug free sport. We feel that the current USAPL guidelines accomplish the preservation of fair play for this ultimate purpose.

Welcome, Highwind

Well done for being brave. It's a horrible feeling to be shamed like that but, in my experience, it stings the most the first time it happens. After that you realise, as you rightly point out, that there are no rational arguments there - just self-righteous, knee-jerk reactions.

The fact that only one person jumped on you (and didn't get any likes) suggests that she's in the minority. There are likely many people reading your post and agreeing with you but are too afraid to go public with it. After the JKR thing I had a few friends message me privately to say that they now understood where I was coming from so you never know.

Hello and welcome. I can't read pdfs on my device but I was aware of the document. Good to have a link. Thank you.

Hello and welcome Highwind.

Thanks everyone! :)