Journalism is dead. San Fran Chronicle: "(It's) difficult to determine if trans women actually are faster or stronger."

That is just your opinion, one not shared by scientists or most lay people today.

Right now, the “traditional sport side” already has everything they want in sport, so it’s just gratuitous hate boiling over. WA and FINA rules have made sure that transwomen have zero chance of being competitive because transitioning before 12 is rapidly becoming illegal and the T-limits thereafter are too strict for natal males anyway.

A tiny percentage of cis women can aspire to win in sport but 0% of transwomen can in T&F and swimming at least, yet they are crying foul.

Any scoop on that?

Reminds of this article from back in 2018 (the catalyst/origin of this particular era)

bleacherreport.com

Andraya Yearwood Knows She Has the Right to Compete

Mirin Fader

There are people who do not want Andraya Yearwood to run. They are bothered by the sight of her. Angered by the thought of her. The black scrunchie on her wrist, the ponytail down her back...

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This is the best line in the whole piece

"There is no proof that cisgender men are inherently more capable than cisgender women."

Because it's a perfectly written (though I would guess completely inadvertently) agenda-pandering line that without firm context isn't wrong, and the term "capable" is so ambiguous in the context it makes arguing it very hard.

Is SAFP less capable than Fred Kerley over 100m? Of course not. She is arguably more capable than he is - but she didn't have a career racing against Fred Kerley or men like him, which if she did we wouldn't even know her name. So in the context of women's sprinting she is not only the most capable of all time, she is right there with Usain Bolt when it comes to the most capable sprinter ever given their playing field (in this case determined by gender).

In the case of the article, this gender based "playing field" is being removed as a biological male human is competing against biological female humans and therefore makes that statement of "no proof" utterly ludicrous in the context (so ludicrous that anyone with an internet connection could show in 5min how SAFP wouldn't even make the Texas high school boys state 100m final).

Point being, journalists and journalism - while supposedly being unbiased and free of "clever" little word plays and agenda levers simply isn't, and we shouldn't worry about it.

I disagree with your contention that the inclusion, er intrusion, of males in female sports and spaces - and many of the other changes being demanded in the name of "trans rights" today - "impacts ~1% or less of the population."

Considerable numbers of girls and women have been, and are being, negatively impacted in myriad ways by changes in laws, policies and practices that have been put in place to accommodate the tiny proportion of the population who "identify as" the opposite sex - or as neither sex, both sexes at once, both sexes but only one at a time on different days, etc.

Girls and women who do not have or claim a trans (or other) gender identity are neverthelessd being particularly impacted - and in myriad negative ways - by the all the male people who are using gender identity claims to demand and gain access to sports, spaces, services and programs originally set up to meet the needs and insure the rights of the female half of the population.

Quite a few men and boys are being negatively impacted too. Because many of them believe in fairness and safety for girls and women in sports - and many understand why it makes sense for, places like locker rooms, toilets and showers outside the home, fitting rooms, prisons, shelters, rape crisis centers, domestic violence refuges, etc to be sex segregated too.

Also, some men and boys are impacted because they have children, siblings, parents - fathers especially - who now "identify as" other than their sex and are making demands on them and the rest of their families they find difficult are to comply with and they feel are unreasonable, unfair and "asking too much." This trend is creating a lot of conflict and heartache in families that's not getting public atttention, but it's there all the same.

No surprise there. These days all it takes to be considered an "expert" or "an authoritative voice" is a soapbox and a loud mouth. Did this genius try to solicit opinions for any current or former high performance athlete, i.e., someone who actually puts their collegiate or professional career on the line? The author is a fool and the piece is a joke, filled with platitudes.

PS: Install this extension to bypass the paywall.

gitlab.com

magnolia1234 / Bypass Paywalls Firefox Clean · GitLab

GitLab.com

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You should try talking to some laypeople (and hell, even some scientists) about this issue sometime. Outside of twitter and Reddit, I mean.

The article reads fine. The quote below is what matters most. School kids are not political pawns.

”“The most important thing is that everyone is treated equally and included, and has the opportunity to participate,” said Shannon Minter, legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights in San Francisco, who has studied policies for transgender athletes for 20 years. “That has to be the overriding consideration in K-12 school-based sports.”

Uh what? Because it makes total sense that decades of reaping benefits of testosterone and male musculature is negated by a year of t suppression and anyone that says otherwise is a bigot!

The point has been beaten to death, but everyone does have the opportunity to participate. Requiring someone to compete as their biological sex is not the assault on human rights that some would believe it is.

Solid journalism, in my opinion. More research is needed.

Of course men are faster and stronger than women. However, they are talking about trans women, not men, competing against cisgender women. There is a huge difference between the physical capabilities of men versus trans women. (I'm referring to trans women who have been on HRT for at least 1 or 2 years--not trans women who simply "identify" as women--which, imo, is nonsense.) The limited research out there--on middle distance/distance running, at least, seems to indicate that if you were a B+ male runner, then you'll be a B+ trans women runner.

It makes perfect sense, and follows from the previous point that you (incorrectly) reject.

Btw, why are you lot always so sassy? It’s hilarious. You’re like little school girls.

An interesting point.

Uh what? there's no data whatsoever that says anything close to that

Your condescending presupposition aside, I regularly talk to both and almost never go to twitter or Reddit.

But those top 14 year old boys are not trans girls on hormone replacement therapy.

Journalism has been dead for years now.

but how do you know that any of these high school trans athletes are on hormone therapy? i'd wager that the ones in CA, NH, WV and CT that made news in recent years were most certainly not and there is no rule that says they have to be to compete in their chosen gender