Megan Rapinoe supports biological males in girls' sports because "your kid's volleyball team isn't that impor

I'm aware of what argument she is making, I've even paraphrased it in other posts, particularly the one where I countered Jerred's assertion that nobody was engaging with Rapinoe's full statement. I disagree with her view on the question, but that's okay, we're allowed to disagree with each other.

This is what Rapinoe said.

“At the highest level, there is regulation. In collegiate sports, there is regulation,” Rapinoe said. “And at the Olympic and professional level. It’s not like it’s a free-for-all where everyone’s just doing whatever.”

“And I think people also need to understand that sports is not the most important thing in life, right? Life is the most important thing in life. And so much of this trans inclusion argument has been put through the extremely tiny lens of elite sports. Like that is not the way that we need to be framing the question.”

si.com

USWNT Star Megan Rapinoe Discusses Transgender Inclusion in Sports

Mike McDaniel

The two-time World Cup champion noted her support for transgender inclusion in sports in an interview with TIME.

Link:www.si.com/soccer/2022/06/20/former-us...

Not everyone is against this because they are anti-trans. I am 100 percent in favor of women's rights, trans rights and the rights of every person. Those rights are immutable.

But I agree with the others that it is unfair for trans athletes to compete in women's sports in some situations. Joining a team is not an inherent right. Trans athletes have a right to equal training, equal coaching, and the opportunity to compete at an appropriate level. If a trans athlete has an unfair advantage, that is not an appropriate level. Girls have a right to compete against other girls, trans do not necessarily have a right to compete against girls.

If trans athletes want to compete in women's sports, they should have to qualify by proving that they do not have a biological advantage, mostly through hormones. Women athletes currently take tests to show they don't have a hormonal advantage, so trans people can also do that. If they qualify according to the guidelines, great, they should play. But what we are talking about here are those who do have an advantage and would make the sport unfair.

For individual sports, it is easy: let them compete with the gender they choose, but have two first place awards, one for trans and one for women. Team sports are much harder, because there is often no alternative to playing on a team. But this is common for girls who want to compete in wrestling or football, they can't find a girls team to play on. Many states are now starting girls wrestling leagues, because there is enough interest. But there will rarely be enough participants to start a trans league, especially at the local level. So if a trans athlete wants to compete on a team, they may have to find a different league or compete against boys teams. They still have the same rights, they just might have to go to a different team to do it.

Again you show your username is accurate. To follow your logic: IF a significant part of the argument for gay acceptance is concerns about suicide, “then this only emphasizes the fact that they need mental health services more than” acceptance from society. There are so many examples of stupidity in this thread that even I am surprised at the extent of it.

They are allowed in club college field hockey. Filtered down to high school, in some states, I guess. For club hockey the justification is basically that there is no men's field hockey.

spectatorworld.com

What it's really like to play sports against men

The men would out-dodge and out-run us women all day long. There was simply no question they had a major advantage

Link:spectatorworld.com/life/what-its-reall...

Read back through all the pages of this thread and count how many times people have referred to transwomen as “males, biological males, guys, boys, and dudes”

You’re kidding yourself if you think people like Deno are saying “We respect transathletes’ self identities.”

This is correct. MP says as much, “And so much of this trans inclusion argument has been put through the extremely tiny lens of elite sports. Like that is not the way that we need to be framing this question.” I’m not sure what MP would say if Ronaldo suddenly declared himself as a trans female and demanded to play in the women’s World Cup. Her point is that fairness as it pertains to elite sports should not be the sole determinant of the rules around participation in all sports. I played little league growing up. Our league had a rule mandating all members of the roster play at least three innings per game. So yes, it was enforced that the “bad” players were mandated to play. There was always a group of parents outraged by this saying it was depriving their talented children of proper opportunity and exposure. In the end most saw this rule was a good one. Far more were helped and happy than harmed. However, nobody thought this rule should also be applied to the Yankees.

Well I have had “a biological advantage”competing in sports against the vast majority of my competition. I suppose that was unfair to my competition. I suppose I should have been banned.

Transphobia is just homophobia repackaged.

The hostility towards those that eschew traditional masculinity in favor of taking on roles and behavior considered feminine by society is at the root of both.

I agree 100%. Trans activists always jump directly to "they will kill themselves if you don't!" no matter what concession they are demanding we give them. Look in on the arguments over trans issues and you will see endless variations of "if your child says they're trans, you have two choices: (1) have a trans child, or (2) have a dead child." My assumption if a trans person kills themselves is that they were in such a bad place that changing genders wasn't enough, that transitioning was merely one expression or facet of a whole suite of mental issues -- but that's only my best guess as a layman. More to the point, I think it's a BS move activists make, to try and guilt others into thinking that if we say no to any of their demands, blood is on our hands. Maybe kids' mental states will improve if we teach them that some things aren't fair, such as, boys-to-girls can't play girls sports. The activists already accept that life isn't fair, because they want us to take that view and force it on girls by accepting some boys-to-girls into girls sports. We'd just be arguing with them over the best definition of fairness, but that would be a major improvement over the current state of the argument, in which they try to frame things as "give them everything they want or it's your fault they killed themselves!!!"

If I am given to attacking my "intellectual superiors" then you must be relieved to not be amongst them. The rest of your comment proves it.

My wife's cousin is the head of endocrinology at a very well known university medical center. He thinks that quite a few trans people have mental health problems - and this is not an invitation to be judgmental - and that mental health treatment is essential. He dislikes surgical or hormonal intervention at a young age because his research shows that the patients after are no happier than before, and in some cases, end up having even more issues because of a later desire to detransition. His background is interesting and instructive. He has dealt with parents with boys who will turn out to be 5"4, and who want medical or hormanal intervention to make the boys grow taller. He has had parents insist on leg stretching procedures (only can be done in certain jurisdictions). He finds that in these situations that there is little concern for the boys' health, as he rightly points out that the focus should be on making them happy and mentally sound. 5"4 is ok, just as is having feelings about gender identity. This stance flies in the face of current activists who use the threat of suicide to justify early medical intervention, but this doesn't strike me as a foundation for solid mental health. If someone has mental health challenges, or has suicidal ideation, we need to be compassionate and treat them from a mental health perspective as best we can. I am not sure that permitting trans athletes to compete in the women's division deserves a high priority - mental health does, though. I might add have come across a few trans people who made hormonal or surgical trans decisions well into their adult lives. They tend to be happy and well adjusted, albeit conceding that they had difficulties along the way. They are not large in number, but they do deserve respect and dignity.

Megan Rapinoe is an interesting person. Her brother - the very guy who got her into soccer - is a lifelong addict and has spent decades in jail. He also was or a white supremacist, complete with offensive racial tattoos (although he claims now to be reformed). So it doesn't surprise me that Rapinoe, although in no way afflicted with any of her brother's problems and from a personal day to day perspective likely a good person, is oppositional and defiant on any number of matters. Of course, one never can know, but after reading about her brother, who she loved dearly as a child, I have some sympathy for her - not that all of her positions are correct or are useful, but hers has been a road I would not have wanted to follow. In this vein I am surprised she is taking the position that the matter of XY males in athletics should be minimized, because she above all else should know the issue of mental health challenges, which should remain paramount.

You are wrong. The issue in respect of trans gender in female sports is about unfair advantage.

You lose now because you have resorted to lying. You gave yourself away in this post. You are not smart enough to play this game of prevarication which you have resorted to.

So you are trans gender? It would seem to follow. Being naturally, faster, fitter and stronger doesn't count as unfair advantage if you are the same sex.

Fitting that we are talking about soccer as you just moved the goal posts. I'm not saying they shouldn't be accepted and given support, just not a place on a women's team.

You again just revealed how stupid you are. It is unfair that I am smarter than you. It is unfair if one is naturally more gifted in athletics than another. You really are too stupid to recognize this? It is unfair that you have a lousy personality. I am shocked that you cannot grasp this.

Just ignore Jerred. This has been a pretty good conversation with points made on each side. Then there's Jerred, just talking about smart he is, calling people names, accusing people of lying (but not specifying what the lies were), etc. His posts could be wiped away from this thread and nothing of value would be lost from the overall conversation.

You are lying about hordes of people threatening suicide if they cannot be on a sports team. What a POS you are.