Johanna Mellis in the Guardian: Could the Guardian sink any lower

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I can barely bring myself to link this Guardian article by Johanna Mellis on why "cis female athletes must show solidarity with trans athletes".

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jul/07/cisgender-female-athletes-solidarity-trans-athletes

The Guardian doesn’t have enough courage - or moderators - to open the comments on articles like this. The liberal sprinklings of “cis” alone made it unreadable. I read the Guardian for decades, but their abject capitulation to gender-woo is a complete turn-off. I suspect that amongst the senior management there are a few trans offspring.

I know these threads keep coming up but I feel powerless about it

What can we do?

I don’t want women to lose out like this

Hope that people see that the Emperor has no clothes, as their position becomes increasingly ridiculous?

Complain with fact based refutation is the only thing to do

What a loon.

’Genocide’ indeed. Not wanting women to have to compete against male bodies is ‘genocide’?

Where is that terrifying photo from?? 😱

That poor woman!!

Heterosexual white men are in the vast majority, and are often awful to women.

Trans in women's sport is unfair.

Both statements are true.

Two wrongs don't make a right...just because the vast majority of misogynist behaviour is from straight white guys doesn't make it any more equitable to allow biological men into women's sport.

Why are writers like this piece so dense as to not see this? My conclusion is that they don't want to see it, and thus don't see it.

For them, magical thinking on admitting this group somehow atones for the sins of those beastly locker room jocks, and leery touchy feely perv coaches and agents.

Somehow the biological men who trans, are magically missing all those male qualities that are seen in men who are proudly and boldly alpha males. They really are caring, sharing females. As if.

None are so blind as those who choose not to see.

Well that was the biggest pile of Bullshit I ever did read.

So we are supposed to feel safe with transwomen as they are not like the big bad 'cis' men? And we should open our arms to transwomen competing alongside us in sport because they are just like us? No just no.

Their strategy also tries to limit our athletic success and opportunities by reinforcing sexist notions of cisgender girls and women as the “weaker, slower sex”. This cisgender men began segregating sports by sex initially. It strengthens patriarchal control by weakening the #MeToo movement and anti-abuse push in sport after the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.

Say what?

I don't know how those videos appeared!

I think one of the tactics of TRAs is to minimise the impact of men performing in women's sports by saying there are bigger things to worry about before posting a random series of other issues within sports generlly. It gets tedious really.

Oh and of course be kind.....trying to smear anyone who opposed trans sport. Inclusion (cheating) with being right wing and all the views that confers.

Somehow the biological men who trans, are magically missing all those male qualities that are seen in men who are proudly and boldly alpha males. They really are caring, sharing females. As if.

Someone on Twitter was very astute when they pointed out that one of the few places opposition against GI was allowed to foment was the one forum none of these true blue “women” desired to infiltrate and take over - a childcare forum. Probably a bit more complex than that but it stuck with me.

The argument didn't develop at all from that first paragraph. Just a huge screed of the same. Appalling writing.

Started watching the video above.

TRAs seem genuinely perplexed about why female athletes wouldn't want to compete against males.

The world they live in is extremely delusional.

I started watching too and found their faux naïveté and hyperbole eg “the eradication of T people” very grating. Yawn.

God almighty- three non sequiturs in one sentence!

Mental. Would previous editors like Peter Preston have allowed this garbage to see the light of day?

I've cancelled my Guardian subscription and I intend to write and tell them why. I took out a subscription for research purposes, and to balance my reading of right-leaning newspapers. Nope, not any more, I will not fund an organisation that is working to erase women, our language, our right to safe female-only spaces, and our sports. If you or people you know have a subscription, please talk to them about this. Money talks - let's hit the Guardian where it hurts.

It's worrying though - the left seems lost to this 'cult' and it's pushing women like me who are slightly left leaning towards the right. I live in Scotland so I feel politically homeless (Humza 'Useless' and the SNP are still hellbent on the GRA despite the backlash over the Isla Bryson case - convicted double rapist in a women's prison). Must I hold my nose and vote Tory in protest? Seriously considering risking my soul and doing so because of this single issue.

All this conflation of race with the Gender ideology. We object to biological males who identify as women competing in women's sports because we are white - and therefore, presumably, inclined to hate all minority groups?

And it's only a problem in swimming which is very white . Other women's sports think it's all hunky dory. Except women weight lifters in the Pacific region are absolutely raging about it and they are not white.

Neither is Daley Thompson the great Olympic champion decathlete who is vocal in his support of women on this issue. It's all a bit desperate.

I feel the same and I'm writing to my MP (even though I get banal replies, but figure if they receive enough of these in their mailbox they might realise they'll get a spanking at the next election) and using my economic power (cancelled Guardian subscription and wrote and told them why), stopped buying certain brands etc. I also support Kellie-Jay Keene's Let Women Speak efforts. It's frustrating as hell though

The breadth of Leah Thomas's shoulders in the first seconds of that video I mistakenly clicked on! Talk about an image paints a thousand words or whatever the expression is. How can they sit there seeing the size of him and straight facedly argue that there is no issue? His shoulders are massive even for a man!

@Toseland
I read the Guardian for 20 years until Cologne 2005 - I really hate what they have become and how my left wing friends fall for it

Your saying that made me realise that's when I stopped reading it! Utter betrayal of women.

Indeed!

Of course, Johanna Mellis later describes herself as "a cisgender, white female swimmer", but she's virtuous so that's OK...

Why are these strange articles still appearing after world sporting bodies are starting to make sensible decisions? Do they reopen the debate (dream on)?

They are. Of course, cis has an interesting origin: https://genevievegluck.substack.com/p/cis-coined-by-pedosexual-apologist

That's an excellent example of Muphry's Law in action ;o)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry%27s_law

This has always puzzled me too.

I guess it comes from knowing deep down your arguments don't stack up?