Possibly the most dishonest article I've seen about transwomen in sport

[ControversialOpening]

I don't think even OJ couldn't keep up this level wilful ignorance for this long:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/29/sports-trans-participation-transgender-women-swimming

Compare and contrast this article also in Guardian today.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/29/ministers-fairness-females-sport-swimming-policy?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1656525848

It is so rude to the amazing female athletes that have fought for the right to compete, are still battling for equality of opportunity and funding, are having to make decisions about career v family that male athletes don't have to think about, facing the heads of international sporting bodies suggesting shorter shorts as a way to increase the profile of womens event (yes FIFA I am looking at you) to suggest that they are only slower than men because of their pink, fluffy brains as it's nothing to do with testosterone, wingspan, lung capacity, q angle, muscle to fat ratios or any of the other 100's of difference between male and female bodies. It is so insulting.

Me too. I even knew which article, since the news feed on my phone had seen fit to shove it in my face.

I really fear for public discourse. I've just read a book called 'Science Fictions' and that didn't cheer me up any, either.

The argument that trans women have been allowed to participate in women's elite sports for a long time and they haven't taken over ignores an important fact:

Until 2016 trans women had to have reassignment surgery and at least two years of hormones before they could participate. Then the surgery requirement was dropped and the hormones were required for only one year.

Clearly these changes made many more trans women qualify for Olympic competitions. (Now the IOC has washed its hands altogether of all requirements, passing them to other organisations).

Until 2016 trans women had to have reassignment surgery and at least two years of hormones before they could participate

Not such an attractive proposition for a mediocre man to revive a failing/injury hit/declining due age career. Much easier now all you have to do it say the magic words.

That's much more like it. The Guardian starting to redeem itself. Is there hope?

Lmao a significant proportion of TW are 50 year old AGPs. As if they would be competing as athletes. Likewise for all the TW who can’t even clean their room, nevermind train and compete at a high level. That’s not due to sports policy. It’s so misleading to pretend 1300 TW would be proportional.

If policymakers really cared about fairness in sports, they’d examine the real issues plaguing their organisations. They’d investigate sexual misconduct and corruption allegations and the real inequities in terms of access, funding, development opportunities and media coverage.

A fine example of whataboutery. Because of course any other issue is more important than the one we’re discussing, male bodies winning female events.

That's an excellent point.

There is amount of flat earther here. Denial of science without presenting counter evidence is simply completely against scientific method and for a paper that relies heavily on scientific input to support their climate change focus this is simply non sensical.

The author is obviously annoyed by quite incontrovertible and substantial evidence presented by I presume biologists and sports scientists so tries to dismiss scientists in general as 'so called experts'. I hope the author need not rely on any sort of healthcare which is based on a platform of scientific evidence produced by such experts.

There is also I feel an element of self pity and martyrdom in such articles where the author denuded of logical argument has to rely on the emotional impact of sporting decisions to justify their stance.

The argument has gaping holes in it yet there is no comments section for feedback.

Free event. July 8: 12:00 – 13:00 BST

Trans inclusion in female sport: bodies, sex, and gender identity

Dr Jon Pike, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the OU, presents his view on how to secure fair and maximally inclusive competitive sport.

About this event
Global sports policy is in a state of extreme flux this summer, over the challenge of including trans people in sexed categories. In particular. the inclusion of male-bodied athletes, who identity as women (or transwomen, hereafter TW) is posing difficulties for international governing bodies such as FINA (swimming) and the UCI (cycling). The IOC itself has abdicated responsibility for deciding on policy.

Here, the clash between sex and gender identity seems particularly sharp. The T-level fix – which sought to reconcile fairness with inclusion by requiring that TW reduced their levels of testosterone – is widely seen as a failure. In its place, ad hoc conceptions of ‘meaningful competition’, ‘disproportionate advantage’, and ‘tolerable unfairness’ have been foregrounded. Others have argued from a ‘human right to sport’ to justify the inclusion of TW in female sport.

Dr Pike will argue that these paths are dead ends for securing fair and maximally inclusive competitive sport. He will present an alternative view, one that has been (part-)endorsed by the Sports Councils Equality Group for the existence of two categories: a Female category and an Open one.

This event will be recorded.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/trans-inclusion-in-female-sport-bodies-sex-and-gender-identity-tickets-371159667557

Excellent - thanks, Embarrassing.

They published a much better article on the same day - are they trying to do 'balance' maybe?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/29/ministers-fairness-females-sport-swimming-policy

The Guardian really is a joke these days. Its got to the point now where I tell people not to look at it, as clicking only prolongs the agony.

Please, everyone, just let it die in peace.

Balance? no, just attempting to play both sides in a desperate effort to fend off the inevitable.

I think the Guardian is doing rather well.

It's presenting both sides of the debate and allowing one side to show very clearly the poor argument and lack of facts from articles such as this one.
Like it or loathe it, their readers are generally educated enough to draw their own conclusions. It's the sunlight so many say they appreciate.

the truth is that transgender women and girls are vastly underrepresented in womens sport

so not all bad news then? 👏

Actually I will hold off cheering until the percentage of transgender woman and girls represented in womens sport reaches 0%.

I was so cheered to read about Allison Phillips, the trans golfer who continues to compete in male competitions because 'obviously it's not fair otherwise'. There are plenty of people getting on with enjoying sport and thats what we should be promoting, every step of the way.

How is this person allowed to compete when they are taking testosterone? Are the other men happy about being beaten by someone who takes it? How is this regulated? Are they building up their T to the higher range for a man?

Perhaps we just need a category for people who take drugs?

Transmen can get a Therapeutic Use Exemption for testosterone use in sport.

If I were a male who lost out on a spot in a meaningful team or competition to a female on testosterone, I would certainly consider suing. But despite the cries of 'ha there are loads of trans men competing with men' and the incredible smoke and mirrors language used to suggest that they are, they really aren't - the few who do compete with men do it once or for a single season at most. I was so concerned that I was missing something that I went through the lists of 'trans athletes in sport' to find out how many are female and what competitions they are actually in. It was enlightening.

I wonder if the most successful trans man in sport wasn't one of the very first, Michael Dillon who was stroke of the Trinity College Dublin men's rowing crew in the late 40s, having been a successful female rower before testosterone.

If I were a male who lost out on a spot in a meaningful team or competition to a female on testosterone, I would certainly consider suing.

I'm more concerned about women. As has been noted, a fair few sports that we think of as "men's" are actually open. And those will have occasional female competitors. Some female competitors might compete both high in female events and in lower-ranked open events.

What about the fairness to them? Should women in open events have to compete against other women with testosterone TUEs?

I find this thing about "open" events actually a bit paradoxical because of that - sure men aren't going to be bothered by men on oestrogen or women on testosterone. But what about women who don't want to take testosterone? Seems they lose out, again.

The trans men on testosterone have a TUE on the basis that they are men with low testosterone. They can't then say they are women for the purposes of results.

Look I know this is nuts. I'm explaining how far I had had to go down the rabbit hole to fight the reality distortion peddled by Chris Mosier and the IOC.

Wasn't he the writer who some years ago argued that it would be fine to include trans women in women's elite sports even if they won everything, because it would make the trans women feel better?

I remember that as one of my change-of-opinion experiences, as he so explicitly didn't say anything that would have shown empathy with the female competitors who lose their chances of winning because of a sex-related disadvantage in a group which was created to remove that sex-related disadvantage.

If it's the same man, his views came across as misogynistic in the more usual 'general contempt for women' sense.