NERunner03533 wrote:
This thread is 100% men up in arms about this saying that it's not fair to women when you have no problem bashing women & women's rights in plenty of other ways. You haven't seen a big push from athletes saying that they feel this is unfair. Younger folks who are a part of the sport don't seem to have the same reaction. Maybe it's because plenty of people swim faster. Maybe it's because they want to create an inclusive environment for the trans community. Maybe some of ya'll should take their lead & not make it about yourself when this has zero impact on you.
Not everyone on this thread is a man. I agree that a lot of the posters on LRC "have no problem bashing women & women's rights." But that's no reason to encourage them to bash women & our rights in this newfangled way too.
This issue actually has a direct impact on many men because they are involved in coaching, education, sports policy, sports refereeing, civil rights law, safeguarding, etc or are simply sports fans who believe in basic fairness. Some men involved in women's contact and combat sports, most notably a rugby referee in the UK, have given up their posts in women's sports because they don't want to play any part in exposing female athletes to the much greater risk of physical injury that inclusion of males in women's sports brings.
Some male managers of women's sports teams have been gotten into trouble for siding with female athletes who've rebelled against having to share locker rooms, showers, toilets and overnight accommodations with males who "identify as" women but, like most "trans women" today, still have their penises and testicles.
Moreover, male posters speaking out on this issue will have sisters, wives, daughters, girlfriends and female friends and classmates along with mothers and grandmothers who are, will be or have been directly impacted - both in sports and in many other spheres of life. The fact is, the false flag of "diversity and inclusion" that is now being used to justify the incursion of males into female sports is also being used to argue for males to have unfettered access to all the previously female-only spaces and services that girls and women long have relied on for our safety, privacy, dignity, and wellbeing - and where traditionally we were able to find respite and refuge from the "male gaze" and sexual advances of boys and men.
You say, "You haven't seen a big push from athletes saying that they feel this is unfair. Younger folks who are a part of the sport don't seem to have the same reaction." True enough. But many athletes, particularly female ones, are afraid to speak up. Girls and young women especially have been socialized all their lives to "be kind" and to put males and male feelings first. Girls and women know if they speak their mind on this, they will be subject to bullying, condemnation and social ostracism - and to hordes of men and teenage boys sending them graphic rape, sexual assault and death threats with impunity. One of the reasons the fauxgressives pretending to advance the interests of trans people have been so relentless in their misogynistic abuse of JK Rowling is to serve as a warning to younger women that they better stay silent or else.
Moreover, there's a reason that when making laws and policies, and especially when establishing safeguarding protocols, that societies don't usually rely solely on the input and decisions of "younger people." Sports policies, safeguarding and civil rights legislations are areas in which the wisdom, expertise, breadth of knowledge and "lived experience" of people with some years under their belts who have "seen it all" and considered complex issues from many differing points of view counts for a lot. I'm not saying that young people should have no input here, just that they shouldn't be the only ones making the decisions for all of society.
Some passages from the UK Sports Council's recently-published reports on trans inclusion in sports are relevant:
Several current female athletes suggested that although all or most athletes considered transgender athletes have an advantage if they compete in women’s sport, almost no-one would be brave enough to discuss this in public. One athlete said that the potential for a social media “pile on” would be too great, so it is easier to keep quiet and acquiesce... Other athletes said that they had been warned not to discuss this topic by their NGB [national governing body] and had been threatened with sanctions such as non-selection if they disobeyed.
Those interviewees who worked within Governing Bodies reported the requirement to meet Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of accreditation or to meet standards of inclusion and equality, which they saw as an obligation to ‘tow a line’ [sic] with which they did not necessarily agree. They were aware funding for their sport, or their own success within their role, would be compromised if they were to offer any dissent from an agreed corporate requirement. Similarly, those who had roles in safeguarding were now unsure of how the principles underpinning their work could be upheld, particularly in the face of self-identification and admitted to leaving their role on this basis.
Some respondents commented that if there was a social development which somehow saw men’s sport being negatively impacted it would have been quashed immediately. This view was expressed by females and males from several countries around the world, and analogies were drawn between shoe and kit design which were always rapidly curtailed if it was considered that unfair advantage could be gained: and yet the corollary in female sport was ignored.
This passage highlights how the drive for inclusion of males in girls and women's sports is already leading to girls and women being excluded from the sports category established for those of us who are of the female sex:
Several examples were cited where individuals or groups of females chose to withdraw from sport or even organised physical activity, when an organisation or a leisure facility allowed self-identified transgender women to take part. These examples were provided from the UK, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand. This typically involved women and girls from the Abrahamic faiths of Jewish, Muslim or Christian backgrounds, and their beliefs relating to the respective sexes and the potential for offence to be taken, were resolute. Sporting agencies around the world have often found it difficult to attract and retain female participants from some of these ethnic groups and there was a sense of frustration as to how this work was being undone or undermined by efforts to be inclusive.
https://equalityinsport.org/docs/300921/Project%20Report%20on%20the%20Review%20of%20the%20Guidance%20for%20Transgender%20Inclusion%20in%20Domestic%20Sport%202021.pdf