Elite sports people speaking up! Thread 2

[Signalbox]

A second thread to discuss resistance by athletes and others to men in women’s sporting events. We’ve come along way since the beginning of the first thread 2.5 years ago. Lots to celebrate but still much left to do.

The first thread can be found here…

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4731592-elite-sports-people-speaking-up?page=1

Regarding the women's fencing in Minnesota(?) being abolished and replaced with an 'open' category. Presumably the same has happened to the men's. I have barely any knowledge of our own laws let alone American, but surely this breaches Title IX?

Eta thank you for the new thread.

I assume there will just be one open category now that anyone can join but obviously this just means it will be a male category (in all but name) because women won’t get a look in.

Just saw this and thought it might be good to get it on the new thread (thanks @Signalbox !)

https://www.cyclinguk.org/100women/2025

Update on eligibility criteria

We have updated the rules about who can be nominated for our 100 Women in Cycling Awards. This is in response to the recent Supreme Court decision which clarified that 'sex' in the Equality Act means biological sex at birth. We have received legal advice which says that for our awards to continue to comply with the law we have to limit who can be nominated to biological women only.

Cycling UK is still absolutely dedicated to making cycling welcoming for everyone. This change to our awards doesn't alter our strong commitment to supporting all cyclists, including transgender and non-binary people. We truly believe cycling is for all, and we'll keep working towards that goal.

Not sure if we have had this posted before but worth noting.

Nominations close on the 11th August! Get cracking on getting those nominations in!

From what I've picked up on YouTube Minnesota is going to be having Mixed Events only from now on, so they've effectively erased Women's Fencing. There will be no Men's fencing either, just Human Fencing, which will please the Q's no end, because that's ultimately want that ideology wants.

Barbra Banda has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or best female footballer award 2025.
I have no words.
Hopefully sense will prevail and one of the excellent women nominated will win.

I don't think it is what they want as trans people generally won't get a look in either. They want to play against women so their y chromosome gives them the advantage.

With any luck it will be Bonmati again. She's brilliant, and turned up to the euros having been only just sprung from a hospital with viral meningitis.

Not sure if this fits this thread but I’ll post it for information:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2025/08/07/premier-league-players-take-the-knee-lionesses-jess-carter/

Just to add it’s about the Premier League splitting from Stonewall not just the ‘taking the knee’ as it appears.

I was thinking of the Q's, the T don't realise that Queer Theory will erase them just like T will 'trans' the gay away. It's the Q's that think sex is a spectrum, the T's need it to be binary, so they can transform from one sex to another.

I do a form of fencing. It's laughable the physical advantage men have.

Tracy Edwards

Fab article about this amazing woman.

♥️♥️♥️

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sailing/2025/08/24/tracy-edwards-trans-activists-fights-back/

“It is with this in mind that Edwards poses for photographs today wearing a scarf in green, white and purple, the suffragettes’ colours. Accessorising the look are green-and-purple wristbands inscribed with “The Women Who Wouldn’t Wheesht”: a nod to the 2024 book by Susan Dalgety and Lucy Hunter Blackburn, championing women who refused to be silenced in their concerns about Scotland’s rush to self-ID.”

Archive…

https://archive.ph/6AcNQ

Thanks for the link.

"It’s like explaining the theory of relativity to my dog.” my new go to. 😍

Thanks, excellent article, Signalbox.

probably as good a place as any to post this:

https://www.newsweek.com/malcolm-gladwell-reverses-stance-trans-women-sports-2123798

https://nypost.com/2025/09/03/us-news/malcolm-gladwell-say-hes-ashamed-of-being-cowed-into-supporting-trans-athletes-in-womens-sports/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/malcolm-gladwell-turns-trans-athletes-232452881.html

Thanks for this. I like the Real Science of Sport podcast, so I'll listen to the interview. How cowardly that he, and seemingly most other people at the conference, went along with this, despite knowing how unfair it was. A perfect illustration of the performative virtue signalling that goes on by intelligent people because they are terrified of trans activists. Hopefully him speaking out now will have an impact on those who are still wavering in this issue.

Thanks for the links, I'm in two minds whether to applaud him for finally coming clean and telling the truth, or shouting at him, and all the others like him, for enabling this shit show in the first place. Coward. 🤬

I don't know about the way that states interact in the USA,but can the Minnesota's women fencers enter another states' competition? Or Canada's?

Crazy isn't it.

I'm also a listener. Ross has been pretty open about becoming effectively blacklisted for his "sex is real" views. I'm looking forward to hearing what all of them have to say!

International Olympic Committee sets up working group to protect women's sports - BBC Sport

I have to roll my eyes at the inevitability of a series of committees, papers, guidelines, conferences just to implement what has been blindingly obvious for years.

Perhaps they will come up with some new rules that they won't have time to roll out before the 2028 Olympics and so we wait for another decade before anything meaningful is done.

Boxer who quit against gender row rival Imane Khelif speaks out on horrific abuse that's 'destroyed my career' | Daily Mail Online

This is so awful 😢

She's a true fighter.

They really need to address this injustice...

"Former British athlete Lynsey Sharp has told Sky News she would have won a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016 had today's gender testing rules been in place then.

"Sharp came sixth in the women's 800m final behind three now-barred athletes with differences in sexual development (DSD)."

https://news.sky.com/story/gender-testing-rules-would-have-earned-me-an-olympic-medal-says-former-uk-athlete-lynsey-sharp-13433920