Opinion piece in USA Today (Women's Sports)

[Zinco]

www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2021/05/22/transgender-athletes-girls-women-sports-track-connecticut-column/5149532001/

Quality of argument from liberals on Twitter: real girls sometimes beat trans-girls at sport so therefore bigotry and transphobia.

As you would expect, the situation sounds utterly demoralizing. I hope that these young women get some justice, hopefully while they are still of an age to compete.

Well done to her and her fellow runners for standing up and fighting in this way. They are so young and so brave.

Quality of argument from liberals on Twitter: real girls sometimes beat trans-girls at sport so therefore bigotry and transphobia.

Emma Hilton has a really good Twitter thread on this argument.

mobile.twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1383356200016781315

I just say if I take performance enhancing drugs and come last, I'm still a cheater.

"Banning transgender athletes competing in organised sport"

Ah, that old chestnut. Nobody is banning transgender athletes from setting up their own category or competing in their natal sex category.

This article is amazing. A former trans athlete claims that the tests they underwent before being allowed to compete were 'violations' and that 'the Olympics' are not set up to properly accommodate trans athletes. 



“Transgender rules changed in 2015 and Worley says progress has been made to ensure that Hubbard is not subjected to the same "violations" she suffered.



But Worley worries there will be serious health and wellbeing consequences for Hubbard in meeting the anti-doping requirements at these games."

The gist seems to be that this person believes that the testosterone requirements are too rigid.



"Worley explains to The Detail why she believes the Olympics are not ready for Hubbard. She thinks the system is still failing her, due to the strict testosterone limits which put Hubbard's health at risk.



"It’s like taking the gas out of the car," says Worley. "When you lose testosterone in your physiology it’s like the car starts to shake when you take the petrol out of it. Certain functions of the body decrease or even stop functioning altogether."



Further, 

" "Everybody needs hormones, it’s just that we need different types of hormones depending on chromosome type you are. And that's the problem, we've tried to homogenise gender, and we've tried to compare apples with oranges.



She says the thinking was that "if you lower an athlete's testosterone levels (of someone) who was XY chromosome that somehow that is going to match somebody who is XX. No, you're making that XY chromosome person completely unwell, long term in sport and to end of life, thinking that's going to somehow assimilate to somebody who is XX chromosome (who doesn't need testosterone to stay well)."



So there are sex-based biological differences and when it comes to those born as males needing testosterone these need to be acknowledged ... but when it comes to the advantages in weight-lifting that males have over females they need to be ignored.

www.stuff.co.nz/sport/women-in-sport/300309941/the-detail-kiwi-athlete-laurel-hubbard-set-to-be-first-transgender-olympian-but-why-did-it-take-so-long

@stonecat

I just say if I take performance enhancing drugs and come last, I'm still a cheater.

Exactly.

This argument won't last long anyway. The more transwomen are allowed access to women's sports, the eventual transwomen beating women will happen sooner or later.

At the moment the numbers are small. That's not an argument for not nipping this in the bud before it's too late.

Laurel Hubbard cheating competing in the Olympics could well open some more eyes.

It's a slippery slope now that we're allowing transwomen to compete against women. It's going to be hard to come back from this now that it's started

The complete lack of care about women in the article really angered me - as did the flagrant double standards.

I find the willingness to overlook science bizarre. Even worse though is the willingness to accept the science but decide that inclusiveness should be the focus.

The past champions who are pushing for this inclusion seem quite happy to pull the ladder up behind them.

Good luck to Chelsea, Selina and Alana. They are truly brave in the face of hostile adversity for something that should never have been allowed.

Particularly because, it I remember correctly, in the beginning, those two males had only socially transitioned. So therefore no one could use the ‘but cross hormones’ argument either.

Can someone post some links to the stories about men complaining about women identifying as men and taking their places on sports teams? Because if it's all about 'transphobia', I'd expect there to be as much of an outcry about 'transmen' competing in male sports.

• And that's the problem, we've tried to homogenise gender, and we've tried to compare apples with oranges.

Well yes. The apple shouldn't be in with the oranges at all. Even if it's identified as an 'orange pippin'. There - all the complications vanish.

Where on earth did anyone ever get the ridiculous idea that sport ought to be segregated by 'gender' instead of sex?

Ross Tucker points out in his latest podcast that the main reason that some girls beat males identifying as girls is that the few males there are just aren’t that good. They’re mediocre males who have a biological advantage, but because they’re mediocre the chance of overlap is greater. If they were elite, there would never be any of them beaten by girls.

@ErrolTheDragon

* And that's the problem, we've tried to homogenise gender, and we've tried to compare apples with oranges. *

Well yes. The apple shouldn't be in with the oranges at all. Even if it's identified as an 'orange pippin'. There - all the complications vanish.

Where on earth did anyone ever get the ridiculous idea that sport ought to be segregated by 'gender' instead of sex?

Some are even calling for no segregation in sports at all. The 'comedian' Sarah Silverman being a recent notable example. Absolutely fucking bonkers.

Some are even calling for no segregation in sports at all. The 'comedian' Sarah Silverman being a recent notable example. Absolutely fucking bonkers.

So she wants to scrap the Paralympics, presumably? And school sports open to all ages groups? Certainly no 'veterans' events - do we suppose a certain cyclist would support ending that non-inclusive category? If not, why not?

If Laurel Hubbard is canny, at the Olympics Laurel Hubbard will aim for bronze medals and no higher. That will add nicely to the narrative of "see, ciswomen can still get most of the glory, I'm not damaging this sport, and so there's no problem".

@ErrolTheDragon

Some are even calling for no segregation in sports at all. The 'comedian' Sarah Silverman being a recent notable example. Absolutely fucking bonkers.

So she wants to scrap the Paralympics, presumably? And school sports open to all ages groups? Certainly no 'veterans' events - do we suppose a certain cyclist would support ending that non-inclusive category? If not, why not?

I doubt she's put that much thought into it. Her argument was basically "There are tall girls and short boys".

stonecat

The transwomen who are already winning regularly against women -
Michelle Dumaresq, Lauren Jaska, Rachel McKinnon, Hannah Mouncey, Maxine Blythin, Laurel Hubbard, Tiffany Abreu, Kate Weatherly, June Eastwood, CeCe Telfer, Andrea Yearwood, Natalie Van Gogh, Mianne Bagger, Fallon Fox, Bobbi Lancaster (golf), Cate McGregor (cricket),

Bobbi Lancaster is a name I hadn't seen before. At the age of 62 Bobbi transitioned and the LPGA decide to let Bobbi compete against the women. Previously Bobbi had been an extremely good golfer playing in the men's category, even playing in the Ontario Open. At the age of 71 Bobbi is still the Papago "women's club champion".

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbi_Lancaster

Even a person who is not remotely interested in sport would find this incredible

This is a video featuring Bobbi Lancaster. Bobbi seems to wonder if they might have an advantage, but there is a guy at around the 8 minute mark who is using all the old "whataboutery" questions about physique, about how sport is always unfair.

USA Today have censored the original article after publication. They removed use of the word "male" because it offends people.

Commentary from (conservative) Matt Walsh:

Quote:

Editor's note: This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines. We regret that hurtful language was used.

And yet we are constantly told there is no denial of biology at all....