Guardian on Transgender participation in the Winter Olympics

[WaterThyme]

No 9 of The Guardian’s things we learnt from the Winter Olympics:

Transgender athlete makes history
Sweden’s Elis Lundholm became the first openly transgender athlete to compete at the Winter Olympics when he took part in qualifying for the women’s moguls, finishing 25th and missing out on the final. Last November, the International Olympic Committee edged closer to implementing a ban on transgender women competing in the female category in time for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The 23-year-old Lundholm was born female and now identifies as a man but has not undergone any gender-affirming treatment or surgery. While this proposed ban will affect other transgender athletes, Lundholm would still be able to compete in the women’s category because it is the same gender he was assigned at birth. “I want everyone to be able to compete fairly against each other,” he said after finishing his run down the Livigno course.

A TIW speaks up for fairness.

Why do you think that because she has short hair she is bisexual?

Non binary is not the same as bisexuality.

If you read my post again, I said she identified as "non binary", which I simply copied from the BBC article.

Cheers, I thought I was going mad for a while.

She is a woman competing in the women's competition. This makes perfect sense. The Guardian think this is newsworthy because otherwise she pretends to be a man and the G likes to also pretend.

Wu and Drennen are unhappy with the female competitor recognising her sex because men like them don't ever want their sex to be recognised.

All the above is very pleasing to us who never waivered from knowing sex is real.

Of course, people like Wu and Drennan are unhappy because her competing shows the lie in all the accusations of transgender athletes being ‘banned’. That group actually want female people with transgender identities to boycott sports events that they can legitimately enter.

Not only to add a false sense of strength to their argument about the ‘ban’ because people will assume those female athletes cannot compete if they don’t turn up in protest. The argument can then, of course, be that the bans ‘harms ALL’ trans people. When that is only partly accurate because those female people have chosen to self -exclude.

It is a demand for solidarity.

A demand for solidarity, or a demand for subservience?

Absolutely, Jelly.

I don’t think those men would even care that it is taken as a demand for subservience. Which I agree it is.

To my mind, what this athlete did is solidarity. She did not have to announce her gender identity belief. It is like a Muslim athlete competing in clothing that meets the modesty requirements of their beliefs.

It doesn't suit the male agenda because it's not possible for a woman to cheat at sport by pretending to be the opposite sex. This person is genuinely an Olympic level athlete.

On some level most people do understand that the male equivalents are not outstanding athletes and wouldn't stand a chance in the correct category.

But that’s got nothing to do with whether she’s lesbian, straight or bisexual.

It just means she identifies as non-binary gender despite being female.

I agree, but I never mentioned anything about sexuality, it was the other poster replying to me. It was the BBC saying that she was the first transgender athlete competing at the World Cup, which is totally unremarkable, because at the end of the day, she is a woman competing in the women's World Cup.
I think I may be with the majority on here, when I say that my view is - LGB refers to sexuality.
T (which probably includes non binary and all the other 92 genders) refers to a gender identity.

Sorry @oldtiredcyclist, I see that should have been to @HoppityBun.

A trans person competing against members of their birth sex is not revolutionary. It is bowing to the massive campaign to put us back in our original boxes.’
Yes. Back in reality.

Haha, so true!

I do think it's a very positive thing though (not the Guardian spin which seems to be intentionally conflating trans men and trans women).

"Person identifies and presents how they like while competing in the sports category for their sex" is a great message and one I'd like to see more of.

Agree. Good for Elis. Competing fairly in the right category.