Blind woman sprinter displaced from Paralympics

[Hairyesterdaygonetoday]

Women’s sports medals really suit men, don’t they? I have just read about a blind female runner who has been displaced from Spain’s Paralympics team by a male.

Melani Bergés Gámez, who is 90% blind, works as a primary school teacher and is a medal-winning sprinter. She runs with a cord attaching her to her running partner.

https://x.com/babybeginner/status/1823640074623574193/photo/1

I can’t see the whole Facebook post, but it looks as if Melani’s place has been taken by Valentina Petrillo, who won medals as a male sprinter before switching to women’s events in 2020. Since then, he’s been setting new records in women’s events — what a surprise.

Another inspiring woman shouldered aside.

I know. It's terrible for Melani.

You'd have to be as blind as this man is to think he's a woman.

More loathsome male cheats. I'm sick to death of them, and even more of all the organisations, governments and virtue-signallers who support them.

This is shameful.

Disgusting

They might as well call it the Paraphiliac Olympics and stop pretending.

This

Isn't it funny how their rules allegedly don't keep men out of women's events - I wonder if they'd be so blithe about letting the men who also "identify as" disabled, when they're no such thing, compete? Like that TW who used to get around in a wheelchair.

I’m as gender critical as you come but I have to say that I find your comment offensive. And disablist, writing as the mother of a teenage girl who is registered blind.

I think Dangandblast nails it quite neatly, @WhompingWillows. Do you really think nobody can refer to the reality of blindness in case it offends others? All the blind or partially sighted people I've known wouldn't have turned a hair at that comment.

Or have you come to chastise us generally?

I agree, @Rightsraptor .

It’s a disablist comment that is offensive to my blind daughter.

Well, my blind daughter finds it offensive. Have you actually asked all the blind and partially sighted people you know if they find the comment offensive? Or are you simply making an assumption on their behalf?

Feel free to be offended, @WhompingWillows, but can you avoid derailing the point of the thread? Yes, OP, it’s wrong and ridiculous. It makes a mockery of women’s sport.

Dang - why did you tell your daughter someone has made a comment she might find offensive? What does she think about Melani losing her place to a man?

Getting back to the main point, he's a cheating bastard. I feel totally offended at the fact that he is stealing women's places and women's records. The Paralympics shouldn't be a retirement home for inadequate men. He's 50 FFS.

Fifty? Omg. I really hope this is sorted out for the next olympics. Surely we are due a pendulum swing!

Literally just asked several people with glaucoma or AMD who happen to be at hand. They're not all the blind or vision impaired people that I know but a sample.

Their unanimous verdict, "not offensive". That's my anecdata.

Why on earth did you read it to your DD if you anticipated it might distress her? Do you regularly do things like that?

If your DD read it via screen-reading software and was distressed, that's interesting. Did she find a comment on a SM forum more distressing than the displacement of the athlete?

My strongest empathy and sympathy are with the displaced athlete and her family.

Why did you tell your daughter about a random person’s internet comment if you knew it would upset her?

Back on topic - I stand with Melani - there must no place for males, trans or DSD in any female sports events, including para events.

The age of the male is insult to injury - another Laurel Hubbard.

Have I fallen asleep and woken up in the 1970s or something? Using 'blind' or 'deaf' as meaning 'unable to understand something obvious' hasn't been acceptable for decades, and we don't allow men do a quick poll of their entourage and come back to us and say 'hey, lighten up, most women I've spoken to don't think what I've said is sexist'.

How about avoiding a derail by just saying sorry, I didn't realise/think/intend any offence. The we could all get back to being rightly outraged about a blind woman not being treated fairly..

Marie - the word blind wasn’t used as an insult but to emphasise the fact the this particular cm (cheating male) is visually obviously a man, and only someone who couldn’t see the person (ie blind) could possibly think they were a woman.

It's not right is it. There is nothing else you can say. It's very hard to understand why these things are happening.

Yes I get all that, but using the world blind as shorthand for all that is offensive, whether intentional or not.
And probably inaccurate as well, because I bet blind people can identify men pretending to be women by means other than vision - I'm right, amn't I, blind MNers?
But back to the rights of one particular blind woman, the athlete in question...