Malcolm Gladwell 'ashamed' of being 'cowed' on trans athletes in female sport

PS. Check the notes at the top of the thread. This thing is being picked up everywhere.

I agree with you here. The majority of the outspoken people against trans women in women's sports are making disingenuous arguments. They just don't like trans people.

There's a smaller subset of people like myself who could not care less about what gender a person wants to identify as. I don't believe you are causing me or anyone else any harm simply by being transgender.

I still believe:

1. A person born biologically male has undeniable physical advantages over someone born biologically female.

2. These advantages are the primary reason we have separate women's sports in the first place.

3. Therefore it is entirely unfair to include these people in the women's only divisions of sports. They should compete in the "Open" division (generally referred to as "Mens")

At a recreational level I think the benefits of inclusivity outweigh the importance of competitive integrity. At higher levels of competition, competitive integrity should be the primary concern.

Let the trans woman play on your rec league basketball team. Don't let the trans woman play in the WNBA. Where do you draw the line is the real question. My initial gut reaction says that below highschool varsity, go for it. Past that? No. I could be convinced otherwise.

I listened to this interview last week when it came out and don't think it would be fair to say MG is "anti-trans". He, Ross and Mike (and Gareth, their Discord moderator who makes appearances on the podcast) are really up front about making the conversation about *sport*, not about the person. I'll side with the trans community 100% on being able to live their lives in the way they feel is authentic to pursue life, liberty and happiness, but count myself as someone who understands the need for having a hard boundary for inclusion in the female category, while understanding the attention that needs to given in understanding why someone could be XY and still be included (trans individuals would be excluded, but some DSD - difference in sex development - individuals may be able to be included as there are many different types of those differences that may not actually provide any male advantage...go into their archives and listen to the podcasts they have dedicated to that topic if you haven't but are interested in that conversation).

Have you seen some of those broads hanging out together?? They definitely LOOK like a herd....

"The majority of the outspoken people against trans women in women's sports are making disingenuous arguments. They just don't like trans people."

Pure ad hominem. A December 2024 UK poll showed that not a single demographic polled in majority support of trans participation in female sport. That's right- every age group (18-24, 25-49, etc), left-wing voters, right-wing voters, men, women- the majority of every single group disagreed with trans participation in female sport and I'm sure a good percentage of that massive majority are outspoken about it. Do they all 'just dislike trans people'?

"Let the trans woman play on your rec league basketball team. Don't let the trans woman play in the WNBA. Where do you draw the line is the real question. My initial gut reaction says that below highschool varsity, go for it. Past that? No. I could be convinced otherwise."

There is no place for boys in girls sport. If we're talking about a mixed sex game of rounders in school, then obviously there is no issue with that. But as soon as you allow one boy to compete 'as a girl' in an event for girls, you have broken the category. Aside from the overall ethics and safety, the fairness element is skewed much, much earlier than by the time they get to the WNBA. Look at the track age group world records for every age group for every event. Every possible record from the age of 5 upwards is held by a boy. Obviously this is well below the age of puberty so Just Another Hobby Jogger's solution of 'block the boy's puberty and it's magically fair' just doesn't hold up (he never addresses this when I bring it up).

Btw, I'm still banned, sort it out brojos. Kilted Runner

Oh and I meant to say, the reason why keeping boys out of girls' sport matters in youth sport too is because we know that girls' participation in sport and physical activity drops off dramatically at a relatively young age. If we want to keep more girls active or indeed find the next Femke Bol, then that girl needs to have not been kicked off the team in exchange for a faster boy, or generally put off the sport by finishing many metres behind a mediocre boy at every race.

So, when can we expect an apology from the Gay and Trans “Community” for trying to destroy women’s sports while putting women at risk in the process?

That he would use the giving of life altering drugs to children as a predicate for his argument tells you the type of sick people you’re dealing with.

What's your position on abortion?

99.9% certainty you voted for a party that wishes to restrict access to abortion and put women a risk.

I won't expect an apology from you any time soon.

I'm pro-choice and I think Trump is an absolute moron. Yet I, like the vast majority of those asked in opinion polls, believe males shouldn't be in women's sports. If you make assumptions about people who disagree with you, don't be surprised when they turn out to be inaccurate.

This doesn’t sound like an apology.

But I heard from libs that men can get pregnant.

That’s what you’re gonna get from his type: Moving Goalposts and switching topics.

Yep. Now do kicking out trans service members and denying them benefits. Xray the heart and soul and you find hateful, spiteful, and weak.

Sorry but I see this as a major red flag. If you cannot defend the most marginalized and disrespected group in society, especially with the current backlash against their existence, I cannot trust that you will stand by me when the backlash shifts to others.

When the fury that's currently directed at trans folk turns on women's access to abortion, or disabled people, or migrants, or other members of the LGBTQ+ community, will you nitpick over their presence, behavior, or rights, or will you provide them with unconditional support and solidarity?

It says to me that you'll waver and not recognize when they are under a politically motivated attack.

1. I wasn't saying the majority of people against trans women in women's sports. I mean the ones who spend significant amounts of their time publicly complaining about it. I completely agree that the majority are against it. I'm more-so referring to people using it as the center of a political or professional agenda. Those one's are mostly just grifters who don't actually care about sports, or straight up anti-trans.

2. I agree that the line should be drawn long before the WNBA (and even said so in my comment) I just think at extremely low levels of competition, the "harm" isn't really there. I still think it's unfair at a grade school/middle school/JV level, I just think the impact is low enough there that the social benefits of including them may outweigh the harm from compromising the competitive integrity.

And everyone else (again, the vast majority of the population) see it as a major red flag that you don't care at all about women's boundaries and keep banging on about expanding what are, essentially, men's rights.

1. I know a lot of people who are outspoken on this issue and they don't fit your characterisation at all. Believe it or not, people care about women's sports. The fact that you think that speaking up in defence of it isn't possible without it being a grift for some esoteric political agenda perhaps says more about you than them.

2. Is there ever a social benefit to a girl getting beat by a boy in a girl's race? The girls will become disillusioned and the boy will be deeply resented by classmates and parents.

Not wanting cheating in sport has nothing to do with being anti-trans, ya moron.