The thing about all of this that always strikes me is just how unsporting the trans women who want to compete in women’s competitions are. As are the people celebrating this stuff.
The quotes from the Australian TW surfer in that article are a good example of how all they are thinking about is their own feelings and validation. Basic sporting ideas of fair competition just don’t matter at all.
I used to teach HE and in one class I did a thing where the students ran sessions on particular subjects for the whole class. One group had set a little online class quiz, and I had to participate. I wasn’t even trying very hard but (obviously) I won miles. The students started congratulating me and saying how amazingly I’d done. But I just laughed an said that I’m the lecturer so it would be horribly embarrassing if I hadn’t won, given I’ve been teaching the topic for years, and moved the congratulations on to the students who’d done well in the quiz. Because it wasn’t a fair competition and it wasn’t about me.
I just think the TW going on about how hard their journey has been to get to compete against women are missing the whole point of sport.
Winning is much better when you prevail over fairly matched opponents who are at the top of their game. That’s where the satisfaction is. Winning over people you know you have a huge biological advantage over should be unsatisfying - except it seems to be part of the appeal here.