The thing is, people don’t magically become elite athletes. You can’t self-ID as one & gain access to their [hopefully soon-to-be single-sex once more] facilities, even if you’re prepared to put in the work.
It’s a [gruelling] process to get there; & if trans girls aren’t excluded at the first sign puberty is kicking in, the supply of elite women is going to evaporate because the elite girls won’t hold out for the Maybe of a safe space later. What of the sports that select their elite athletes - & have them start competing - while trans girls are still in the process of gaining that advantage? It’s hair-splitting, & their advantage becomes very clear very quickly - but That’s Not What The Rules Say. So again, unless that’s cleared up quickly, the girls will leave.
How exactly do they justify the inclusion in amateur women’s sport? Particularly since it’s known women & girls are far less likely than men to do sport outside compulsory PE lessons. Oh & that there are women who won’t be able to participate in sport with trans women; & even more women who would be distressed (up to & including trauma-generated responses) by a male-bodied person being in the women’s changing room & would thus not only be unable to return but potentially too fearful to seek alternatives. It’s an absurd “kindness” that ignores the very real needs of a substantial number of women.
Perhaps the solution is for all the women who “don’t mind” - the fully grown adults, I mean - to provide the sought-after validation? Only for as long as they are happy to, I mean, not as some kind of dreadful endless punishment for wokescolding. Of course, it may turn out all they can provide is the very occasional performative positivity in a public loo because they don’t do sport & have never been in hospital [other than to give birth] & don’t even know anyone who knows anyone - of either sex - who’s been in prison… but they still think everyone should just Be Kind about it.
More seriously, it’s very important trans people be able to access sport, especially as taking oestrogen (eventually) depletes trans women’s bone mass: doing weight bearing exercise to help counter that is really important. Something like Park Run could be great in terms of Mental Health, both the exercise & the community aspect. But it’s not ok for trans women to run in the women’s category. Organising a specific run for trans women at one/some of the bigger runs would almost certainly be viable - & presumably the system could be arranged to let TW everywhere race with the men but be recorded as TW.
Goodness knows mental health care needs absolutely oceans (we’re far past the buckets stage) more funding across every last service, but one of the many things that clearly needs doing is providing trans people with support in understanding & coming to terms with the fact that even if they have extensive surgery they cannot change sex. Because it is a damaging belief to hold - & frankly quite cruel not to break through that delusion to ensure their safety when it comes to medical care; to help trans women understand why [some] women do not want them in single-sex spaces & refer to their bodies as male; & to help trans men to understand that they will continue to vulnerable in certain situations - rapists don’t respect gender identity for example.
I can never quite decide if the members of the women’s suffrage movement & pioneers of women’s education would be surprised that this long after the extension of the franchise & women edging their way into universities (if not necessarily degrees ) women are still being so thoroughly trampled on by men, or if their response would essentially be a resigned shrug of “same shit, different century”. Because we have made progress - but we’re basically trying to overthrow the world dictator who’s been in situ since we overtook them Neanderthals (& tbh their women probably had to put up with similar) who doesn’t even recognise he is the dictator. It’s one thing trying to usurp someone who recognises they hold all the power; trying to overthrow the patriarchy when the patriarchy refuses to acknowledge the systemic oppression of women is quite another. Bastards.