It's been a day of this shit today...

[InTheShadowOfTheMushroomCloud]

This.... Philippa is a trans woman who transitioned after retiring. But LEAP Sports Scotland cannot for the life of them find a sportswoman to celebrate Women and Girls in Sport 2020...

I remember watching Philippa competing in the tour de France.

A race that women still can't enter (there's a one day race rather than the three weeks the men get).

I was trying to think of a way to say which jersey Philippa won without getting deleted but I don't think it's possible.

@EndoplasmicReticulum

I was trying to think of a way to say which jersey Philippa won without getting deleted but I don't think it's possible.

I'll give it a punt. When she was Robert somethingorother (not York I'm sure) he won the king of the mountains twice. She was the most successful British man in European cycling comps until Froome IIRC. She transitioned fairly recently, I think, because he was running the UK Tour at one point wasn't he?

Sooooo the first 'Scottish woman in sport' was never actually a woman in sport at any point in time.

I don't know why you thought that would be awkward.

Yes that's definitely a leap Sports Scotland

This person was an awesome cyclist- I watched the tour when they were racing.

Brilliant talent and I wish them well.

But to talk about women and girls in sport. Hard no. It's taking the piss.

Why do they keep doing this? Picking transwoman as first up/ prominent in women's stuff? Feels like trolling tbh

Not only was this person not even identifying as a woman while competing in sport, this person is also a self-admitting doper, with the justification that everyone was doing it. No doubt an incredible cyclist, but what is it about a 62 year old former doping male cyclist that is inspiring to women and girls?

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/3bbe8dd0-f51b-11ea-bba7-1287cd8be14a?shareToken=474b9f386b6d6f1075bbf75291850691

Can you even imagine the indignation if a rugby player was to do an interview about cycling or a canoeist was to an interview on football? But someone that never competed as a woman is being interviewed on women’s sport.

Any chance the first interview question is ‘Should transwomen compete in women’s sports?’...

Philippa York has nothing at all to do with women’s sport. Even now Philippa comments only on men’s cycling as that is Philippa’s experience.

It is yet another punch in the stomach for women but I am beginning to believe that that must be the intention.

We are being sidelined and pushed out of our own spaces and our own sports. It is totally transparent, not even an attempt to hide it now.

That article is so strangely written, almost as though Philippa and Robert are two different people.

Philippa has never competed in top flight women’s sport.

Philippa would never, ever have enjoyed the success that Robert did, because women’s cycling has never enjoyed the support or funding that men’s cycling has.

Philippa has never had to deal with any of the specific issues that affect women in sport: adolescent drop out rate for girls sport, lack of funding of girls and women’s sport, finding the right saddle that doesn’t chafe half your vulva off, dealing with training when pre menstrual or menstruating, deciding on contraception, fertility and family planning in the context of your sporting ambitions, finding competitive races that stand a chance of enough prize money to cover your expenses, juggling paid work and your sport because your sport will never make you enough to live on, finding a coach and a regime that will train you like a woman rather than a mini-man, being sexualised by sponsors (eg being asked to pose naked on a bike like V Pendleton frequently was)...

This is not a role model for women. If you want a role model for trans women, Philippa might fit the bill, but stop pretending there’s no fucking difference and women are supposed to derive inspiration from a story we don’t even appear in!

I don't think even as a role model for transwomen, since the issues a transwoman cyclist might face weren't dealt with either as their transition was after retirement!

Why did Leap sports Scotland do this? The comments show that people just regard them as trolling.

What other explanation is there for an organisation having a Women and Girls Week and the first person profiled is a man?

You know it's a LGBT+ organisation though?

I was a volunteer at the commonwealth games and met some of the LEAP staff, who were mostly trans. So their whole remit is promoting things like this.

Actually listening to the interview - all respect to Philippa who says they waited until the end of their career to transition and wouldn't have competed against women. That shows more respect for women in sports than LEAP Scotland platforming them as a "woman in sports" - which they never were.

Even so, bitheby, they couldn’t find a lesbian or bisexual woman to kick the week off? Someone who has actually competed in women’s sport?

@bitheby

You know it's a LGBT+ organisation though?

I was a volunteer at the commonwealth games and met some of the LEAP staff, who were mostly trans. So their whole remit is promoting things like this.

A lesbian or bisexual sportswoman is a woman competing in women's sport.

A transgender athlete who competed as a man and can only comment on participating in men's races is entirely irrelevant when it comes to women's sport.

This has nothing to do with LGB and nothing to do with women's sport.

I was a volunteer at the commonwealth games and met some of the LEAP staff, who were mostly trans. So their whole remit is promoting things like this.

And if they were celebrating trans athlete week, great. To promote a male who competed as a male only, in an event that actually excluded females is completely tone deaf when they are supposed to also represent lesbians. Effectively saying no lesbian is worthy of opening their week of celebration.

I saw a tweet saying that this person never took an opportunity from a female while competing, well they just took an opportunity from a female. A female that may have needed the exposure to raise their profile to get adequate sponsorship. A woman worthy of nomination and celebration, and an inspiration to other females, lesbian or not.

No. They have failed in their remit here and should apologise. Another female opportunity taken by a male. But that is ok... girls to do as well as this person, you just have to try harder....

‘Lesbian and bisexual’ that should be

@bitheby

You know it's a LGBT+ organisation though?

I was a volunteer at the commonwealth games and met some of the LEAP staff, who were mostly trans. So their whole remit is promoting things like this.

Surely there must be gay/bi Scottish women in sport they could pick. To open with someone who has literally never been the thing they are celebrating just seems dumb.

Either they are so caught by their own rhetoric they have lost all contact with reality or they see the T part of LGBT as the only priority.

LGBT+ organisation

Should it be renamed a T organisation? If they didn't realise that women and girls will mostly be L or B?