New article on Transgender Connecticut sprinter

tgirl wrote:

It should be acknowledged that recreational sports are different from elite sports. I mean who reallly cares who signs up for the company softball team, and whether they play for the men’s or women’s team.

High school sports are really tricky. Most “athletes” are out there to participate, but a sizable minority are very serious.

I think this is probably a big part of the disconnect between the sides of this discussion. If you don’t view competitive sports as inherently different from other extracurricular/recreational activities, I can see how it would seem backwards to not allow people to join whichever team they felt more comfortable being a part of. I’d think it was moronic if my school’s hiking club or culinary interest group had hardline gender segregation and wouldn’t allow a transgender individual to participate as per their gender identity. To a person who views sports as just another after school activity, it probably seems equally nonsensical to tell a kid who identifies as female that she can’t run on the girls team.

But of course, the above would be the opinion of a person who doesn’t know or care about sports. Those who are actually involved in athletics understand that biological sex impacts abilities, and that this matters in sports in a way that it doesn’t in hiking club.

I don’t consider myself to be transphobic by any means. I’m currently in med school, and I’ve taken many opportunities outside of my regular curriculum to learn about the specific/unique healthcare needs of the LGBTQ community and to volunteer at clinics that serve these populations. I do this because I care deeply about equity and I want to provide the best care possible to everyone regardless of sexual orientation/identity. But there is just no getting around the fact that development as a biological male confers massive athletic advantages that don’t magically get wiped away by identifying as female. It simply isn’t fair to allow biological males to complete against biological females.

I'll give these trannies some of my gender fluid, if you know what I mean.

if i may wrote:

facts and reason wrote:

You are insane if you want males who are bigger, faster, and stronger to demolish female records. You might as well allow handicapped people in wheelchairs to use a motorcycle in a marathon to be "inclusive, tolerant, and diverse" because of your "feelings". This is the Democrat way of destroying traditional values.

It’s a small point but wheelchair athletes don’t need motorcycles to spank everyone at all distances from the marathon down to the 800m.

Yeah, we don't allow Tatyana McFaden or Manuela Shar to compete against Mary Keitany and Tirnesh Dibaba. And that has nothing to do with disrespecting the rights of physically disabled people.