The Guardian covers Hubbard. You'll be surprised

[bellinisurge]

The Guardian says you shouldn't conflate sex and gender and Hubbard's place in the Olympics is unfair. I know, right?

www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/jun/22/by-conflating-gender-and-sex-we-undermine-sporting-competition

@Selkiesarereal

What is to stop countries who partake in state sponsored doping to drop that risky and costly practice and adopt a much cheaper option of selecting transwomen for their teams? I suspect we are not that far from that and only then the world will sit up and take notice.

Not just countries who sneak doping into their sports training. Sports scholarships in the US have long been a way for poor kids to get a University education and ,if successful , to get onto the sponsorship deal money wagon. But in many states self identified trans girls , ie boys, have been trouncing girls in track and field at local and state level, meaning girls don’t get chosen to compete at prestigious interstate trials which is where the spotters for the universities hang out. See Selina Soule , and many more, on YouTube.

If the impetus isn’t halted soon then there will have been so much time and effort invested in training and promoting young transwomen athletes at the expense of developing the careers of young female athletes that the pushback to allow this unfairness will be not just be from the “be kind” crowd, but from the sponsors, the national squads and the regulatory bodies. Not to mention that the young talented female athletes like Selina will have quietly packed up their running spikes and gone home, because there are only so many times that you can put up with lining up on the starting line knowing you have lost the race even before the b of the bang.

And then if they see it, they are hit in the face with it.

Certainly will.

@FierceBarrie

Jacinda and Grant Robertson (Sports Minister, LGBTQ himself) are very, very tight. No surprises that they’re very much aligned.

I am really interested to see how this will play out down here over the coming months and years. It feels like the tide might be turning. Kiwi love their sports and ‘fair play’ is part of our culture.

The cold truth of it is that it comes down to National Pride and promoting one’s nation over what is fair and equitable, when the latter may mean your nation doesn’t win a medal.

Supporting Hubbard means that Jacinda gets the win (possibly literally) of NZ having a medal contender, plus the win of being seen as progressive. It’s a real shame and a huge letdown that she’s prioritised NZ’s visibility and achievement in the Olympics over females being allowed to compete against other females. Perhaps it would have been a harder decision if all of the females missing out where from NZ and not poorer Oceanic countries

I hope that NewZealanders’ sense of fair play means they see the injustice of this, but unfortunately I suspect a fair few would rather NZ win a medal via a bio male competing in a female category, than have a fair process and miss out. Same with any country. Some are going to put national pride first.

@TedImgoingmad

Now I'd like t hear from James O'Brien, who around 2 years ago was sneering at female callers warning that this would happen. The usual from him: There have been no transgender athletes, you silly women, men aren't going to identify as women to go to the Olympics, why are you being so hysterical?

Absolutely! JOB has admitted that he sits on the fence in the whole trans debate which is hugely disappointing. Somebody like him could do so much for bringing some common sense into this debate and he chooses not to (I guess he's too afraid of being cancelled).