PS. It blows my mind that so many liberals rip Trumpers for not accepting the facts of the election tabulations when they themselves won't except scientific facts.
Liberal here, living in a very liberal area, and also frustrated with this. What I found is, most people who ignore these facts are not really "sports" people to begin with. They don't understand and don't value the concept of competition. They mostly think it's silly to care so much about who won a race.
I coached a female athlete to her first state championship last year. I wish they could all see the impact it had on my athlete and her self-confidence, how rewarding the whole experience was. Girls deserve the opportunity for fair athlete competition.
Your rationale implies all the people who did not win did not elevate their own self-confidence. If that is true, and that is your coaching philosophy, you need to get as far away from youth sports as possible.
All sorts of people have lost all sorts of contests for various reasons and well adjusted people GET OVER IT. Proportion matters. Women have plenty to worry about besides high jumping.
Telling women to "get over it" sounds really progressive. I bet your wife and daughters are happy with your line of logic...
I don't think it is wrong to see a difference between 14th an 1st. There is a difference to track fans.
Assuming the kid in 14th didn't "bump" a girl out of the comp, then it isn't as big of a deal. Looking back on a comp and getting 15th instead of 14th doesn't really matter.
But if you are on the podium or in the final, you are taking someone else's spot. That is why it matters less when a trans-girl just wants to run mid-pack with the girls. That is not likely to generate controversy.
The problem is that a "mid-pack" biological male, could often win the girl's race. That sort of ruins it for girls. Do you see the difference?
It is all about being thoughtful of who is impacted. I care more for "all the girls/women in the whole world" than I do for people who opt to run in a different division because it makes them, as individuals, better.
But I am also willing to admit that I am biased against certain kinds of behavior: I never liked people who are selfish and self-centered. We all hate that kind of behavior, right? On the other hand, I do like people who think of what is best for others. If I were to compete as a girl, I would realize, "wow, I am better than all the girls. I'd better not enter State and crush everyone." I would be self-aware enough to care about what is best for the biological girls. And if I had a son who wanted to transition, I would help him/her understand that too.
The kid in the 14th place qualified for this meet by winning the state championship in NH. If she had withdrawn, someone else from NH would have qualified for the New England meet.
And contrary to your belief, the first place person has a far stronger case to make. She presumably started medical transition before puberty, and is eligible for women's division according to World Athletics. She might have some residual advantage, but that is unconfirmed. She jumped higher than the 14th place person (who had gone through male puberty) because she is a far more talented jumper. I don't think she "opted to compete as a girl" because it makes her better. She has been living as a girl from a very young age, and may not have ever competed as a boy.
She was also not expecting to "crush the competition" as you suggest. She was 2nd in Class LL championship, and 3rd in State Open championship. She jumped a 2 inch PB at the NE meet, while the girls who beat her at the state meet underperformed.
Let me ask you this. Do you think it would be selfish and self-centered for a trans girl to become a high school cheerleader, a homecoming queen, or to play a lead female role in school musical? All of this have actually happened, and in each case a cis girl was bumped off.
The kid in the 14th place qualified for this meet by winning the state championship in NH. If she had withdrawn, someone else from NH would have qualified for the New England meet.
And contrary to your belief, the first place person has a far stronger case to make. She presumably started medical transition before puberty, and is eligible for women's division according to World Athletics. She might have some residual advantage, but that is unconfirmed. She jumped higher than the 14th place person (who had gone through male puberty) because she is a far more talented jumper. I don't think she "opted to compete as a girl" because it makes her better. She has been living as a girl from a very young age, and may not have ever competed as a boy.
She was also not expecting to "crush the competition" as you suggest. She was 2nd in Class LL championship, and 3rd in State Open championship. She jumped a 2 inch PB at the NE meet, while the girls who beat her at the state meet underperformed.
Let me ask you this. Do you think it would be selfish and self-centered for a trans girl to become a high school cheerleader, a homecoming queen, or to play a lead female role in school musical? All of this have actually happened, and in each case a cis girl was bumped off.
Things have really reached peak absurdity when someone seriously tries to justify the ridiculous, patently unfair policy that's enabled a male teenager to win the HS girls' high jump at the 2024 New England Championships by comparing the male who came in first in this particular girls' event to the other teenage male who also competed in the girls' high jump at the same meet but only placed 14th - and by pointing out that the male teenager who won this particular girls' event "is a far more talented jumper than" than the male teen who came in a mere 14th in the girls meet.
How on earth does the fact that male A is "far more talented" in a particular sports event than male B or any other bloke justify male A winning a girls' championship in that event?
Neither male A nor male B belong in girls' sports competitions.
Also, it seems to me that the appropriate comparators for male A here are the other male HS students at the New England Championships who competed in the high jump in the correct sex category.
For the record: if male A had competed in the boys' high jump event against athletes of the same sex, male A would have underperformed the male high jumper who came in last place (21st) by a full 4 inches.
The male winner of the boys' high jump had a mark over 7 feet compared to the 5 feet, 9 inch jump that male A made to win the high jump in the girls' category.
This just goes to show that how fatuous it is to try to make the case that male A was justified in winning the girls' high jump at the NEC by claiming male A is "a far more talented jumper."
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
How on earth does the fact that male A is "far more talented" in a particular sports event than male B or any other bloke justify male A winning a girls' championship in that event?
Neither male A nor male B belong in girls' sports competitions.
Also, it seems to me that the appropriate comparators for male A here are the other male HS students at the New England Championships who competed in the high jump in the correct sex category.
For the record: if male A had competed in the boys' high jump event against athletes of the same sex, male A would have underperformed the male high jumper who came in last place (21st) by a full 4 inches.
The male winner of the boys' high jump had a mark over 7 feet compared to the 5 feet, 9 inch jump that male A made to win the high jump in the girls' category.
This just goes to show that how fatuous it is to try to make the case that male A was justified in winning the girls' high jump at the NEC by claiming male A is "a far more talented jumper."
I did not write the Athlete A deserved to compete in the girls' division because she was more talented. But this is not the first, second, third or nineteenth time you distorted the content of my post, or anyone else's post.
What I wrote is that the fact Athlete A jumped much higher than Athlete B is not any indication that she has some sex-related advantage that Athlete B does not have. It is actually quite the opposite. Athlete A has been on multiple year of hormone replacement, while Athlete B is not.
And none of the athletes in the boys' division is on any kind of hormone suppression or replacement. So that's an irrelevant comparison.
And finally, World Athletics, the governing body of our sport, says Athlete A is eligible to compete in girls' / women's division. That's because they base their decision on science, and not on ideology.
1.) transgender kids are much more likely to self-harm / suffer depression/ bullying or suffer in school. While the media may portray that everyone is accepted, the reality of HS is far different.
2.) It has been proven that sports above all other activities reduce bad outcomes for all students.
These are two facts, whether you like them or not.
Therefore allowing transgender kids will significantly help them, make them feel more apart of a group, etc. Now, one could argue the type of kids whose parents support them by allowing them to do sports. etc likely have to do better but that is a big assumption.
Some might argue that we should restrict these to lower levels of sport (i.e. JV, open division) but let's be honest parent and LR losers would still complain.
So your post above says "tell your daughter she has to jump higher quit blaming others"
Yet, you're asking others to carry the burden for trans kids?
i sincerely don't understand the argument behind allowing genetic males to compete in these sports. is the point that "it doesn't matter" and "for the sake of inclusivity"?
does it not matter?
and, is there another way to create inclusivity?
or i could just be missing it. the gender evolution has taken me by surprise, and i'm not yet accustomed to it. i have no issue with the evolution in general, but this particular piece seems to cross a line of science based arguments that i feel uncomfortable with.
letsrun isn't the place to be enlightened, i guess, but is there anyone here who can make a compelling argument for allowing this?
I think its just easier than dealing with lawsuits. Didn't some judge rule in flavor of that trans tennis player years ago? That created some unfortunate precedent I think.
The people running the meet are probably following rules someone else (who can hire and fire) told them to follow. I'm sure 99% of people at the meet recognize it is illegitimate but nobody wants to do anything about it. The actual girls should sit their asses down on the jump pad and not move if it bother them.
i sincerely don't understand the argument behind allowing genetic males to compete in these sports. is the point that "it doesn't matter" and "for the sake of inclusivity"?
does it not matter?
and, is there another way to create inclusivity?
or i could just be missing it. the gender evolution has taken me by surprise, and i'm not yet accustomed to it. i have no issue with the evolution in general, but this particular piece seems to cross a line of science based arguments that i feel uncomfortable with.
letsrun isn't the place to be enlightened, i guess, but is there anyone here who can make a compelling argument for allowing this?
SJW and the gays have no care for sports. They don't follow it. All they care is pushing their agenda. It's some crap they care about they will sing different tunes.
SJW and the gays have no care for sports. They don't follow it. All they care is pushing their agenda. It's some crap they care about they will sing different tunes.
Yeah, people like Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Candace Parker have no care for sports. And of course, Women's Sports Foundation has no interest in sports.
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
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