New article on Transgender Connecticut sprinter

I wasn’t a fan of this quote:

"There is a difference between what is right and what is fair, and people have to decide which side of the fence they want to be on," says Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors, a Hartford-based nonprofit that provides services to LGBTQ youth.

I don’t think there is a difference. And as many have pointed out she could compete against males, people will still make fun of her but no one will be that mad because she will not be good.

I also found it interesting the mom wouldn’t say whether she was undergoing HRT. Didn’t want to fuel the haters with proof that she has an advantage.

Is she saying that it is the right thing to do even though it is not fair to the girls?

Quoted quote wrote:

Is she saying that it is the right thing to do even though it is not fair to the girls?

Yes, saying even though it isn't fair it is the right thing, and kind of implicating that if you don't agree with that you are on the wrong side of history.

I tend to agree with OP. I feel for her. I believe she should be supported as a girl.

I also think there is an unfair advantage. While not the only factor, testosterone makes a big difference, especially on sprints. HRT seems like it would even things up. I also feel a little uneasy requiring HRT. I’m leaning toward needing that to compete in championship races. Dual meets- don’t care.

Pretty courageous for her to speak out. I hope more thoughtful debate moves forward.

One of the newer liberal cries.

I'm just waiting for the first sub 10s 'woman'.

That will put everything into perspective.

Why aren't there more transgenders in golf and tennis? Why all in track?

To me, the ridiculousness of the "men and women aren't different" argument is summed up in one statistic:

The world record in the men's shot put is 75 ft 10 in. A men's shot weighs 16 pounds.

The world record in the women's shot put is 74 ft 2.75 in. A woman's shot weighs 8.8 pounds.

Even starker is the world leaders last year.

The men's world lead was 74 ft 3.5 in

The women's world lead was 65 ft 11.5 in

Once an Expert wrote:

To me, the ridiculousness of the "men and women aren't different" argument is summed up in one statistic:

The world record in the men's shot put is 75 ft 10 in. A men's shot weighs 16 pounds.

The world record in the women's shot put is 74 ft 2.75 in. A woman's shot weighs 8.8 pounds.

Even starker is the world leaders last year.

The men's world lead was 74 ft 3.5 in

The women's world lead was 65 ft 11.5 in

The men's shot is actually easier to put. It has a bigger mass, meaning it has a greater gravitational pull on the earth. The earth, which is flat, bends around the put shot. More bend for a bigger shot. If the womens' shot weighed as much as the man's, then the world record would be a lot better, maybe about 74.

Transgender athletes should always compete against males, regardless of if they are MtF or FtM. Women's athletics is a protected category. Intentionally altering the hormones of a person to change them to another gender violates that protection, so they should no longer be afforded it.

Hardloper wrote:

RayD wrote:

They should have 4 categories:

1. Male

2. Female

3. Male to female transgender

4. Female to male transgender

It’s literally that simple.

You think they need two additional categories for like three athletes in the entire state?

Maybe three

The author of the article confuses the question of Yearwood "being who she really is"--which is surely a good thing; more power to her--with the question of whether she should be competing against cis females. They're two different questions. By confusing the issue, and by injecting race into it, the author makes it seem as though the white Connecticut parents who disdain Yearwood because they're racist transophobes. I think it's much more likely that they're responding from the gut to the manifest unfairness of somebody who was running track SIX MONTHS EARLIER AS A BOY, on the boy's team, deciding to run as a girl. The author conveniently leaves out this significant fact.

The single best article/interview on the subject, IMHOP, is Ross Tucker's Q&A with Joanna Harper, a transgender athlete. It clarifies all the issues in a useful way. Please read it. Then you'll realize just how ignorant of the underlying issues the author of the Bleacher Report article really is.

https://sportsscientists.com/2016/05/hyperandrogenism-women-vs-women-vs-men-sport-qa-joanna-harper/

Indoor? wrote:

I wasn’t a fan of this quote:

"There is a difference between what is right and what is fair, and people have to decide which side of the fence they want to be on," says Robin McHaelen, executive director of True Colors, a Hartford-based nonprofit that provides services to LGBTQ youth.

I don’t think there is a difference. And as many have pointed out she could compete against males, people will still make fun of her but no one will be that mad because she will not be good.

I also found it interesting the mom wouldn’t say whether she was undergoing HRT. Didn’t want to fuel the haters with proof that she has an advantage.

Whoa! I missed the McHaelen quote. Yes, there's the problem right there: sport is NOTHING if it's not fair. The concept of fair play is intrinsic to every sort of sport you can name.

It wasn't right that women weren't allowed to run the Olympic marathon until 1984. But once that wrong was righted, it wouldn't have been fair had they been forced to compete in the men's division. Generally we can align "rightness," in social justice terms, with fairness. It wasn't right that black baseball players were relegated to their own league until Jackie Robinson broken the color barrier. But even before Robinson, black and white teams put on exhibition matches, and they played each other by the rules: they played fair, even if the segregation of the game in larger terms wasn't right.

The problem with trans athletes like Yearwood competing in the women's division is that it isn't fair. It's certainly right that Yearwood gets to compete at all, but she's been sorted into the wrong group, and that creates a situation that isn't fair.

McHaelen's logic is SJW logic. I don't blame her for it. But it isn't sporting logic. At all.

Do you really, honestly think that a teenager would *fake* being trans, suffer gender dysphoria, suffer abuse (and probably death threats) on the internet and irl, change their life potentially forever, lose friends and family, etc.... all just to win a state title? Do you really believe that? If so, do you remember what it was like to be in high school?

Those of us who aren’t trans will never know what it’s like to come out as trans. This teenager is just trying to be a normal teenager, in an identity she very bravely accepted.

Birth certificate. How can you get a birth certificate showing you were born a woman when you came out with a penis?

She was born with male genitalia. If she wants to be recognized as a woman legally now, go ahead but it shouldn't be on her brith certificate. A birth certificate is a factual government document talking about the details of your birth.

I am 100% with you. As if men haven't done enough to keep women done, now we are deciding to play in their sports leagues? I mean it's CRAZY.

Great. She can identify all she wants. I'm proud of her being a woman and have zero issue with that. But unless she's on HRT then she should NOT be competing against women in sports.

I mean what's next a 25 year old identifying as a 15 year old so they can dominate HS sports?

How in the hell is their interest from D1 schools 12.25 is ass and wouldn't even compete against competent women at the D1 level.

Doctors have only to certify that some type of treatment took place which could be as simple as one doctor's appointment.

https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/06/30/connecticut-makes-changing-birth-certificates-easier-trans-folks

messi wrote:

Why aren't there more transgenders in golf and tennis? Why all in track?

Because in those sports they would actually have to, you know.....practice....instead of just showing up at the races and stealing the candy.