Sprintgeezer wrote:
“Woman”, “man”, etc have different meanings to different people, and when used in different contexts.
For purposes of this decision, T level is the defining factor in the stated race distances. It literally defines whether Semenya will be permitted to compete in the “women’s” category, or in the “men’s” category. For the purpose of determining competition, it will be decided by the IAAF whether Semenya is a man or a woman.
I have a different, and greater purpose than the IAAF. The IAAF’s purpose is to ensure fair competition, within the bounds of what is legally, financially, and administratively acceptable and possible. Notice that the decision has boilerplate and that it uses strict legal tests and terms of art.
My purpose is to advocate for fair competition, and I am bound by only moral, and not practical, legal, or administrative constraints. I go beyond the IAAF in that I believe that if someone developed as a male, they should not be allowed to compete against women regardless of their T level—and correspondingly, that anybody who developed as a female should be able to compete against women if they have a typically female T value.
Further than that, I put the onus on the individual to self-select out of a sense of moral duty, a concept that the IAAF has chosen not to pursue.
Semenya may self-identify in life as a female, as a woman, as a martian, as whatever—but I don’t respect his wish that others consider him thusly in whatever context suits his convenience. The IAAF, CAS, etc agree with me, when it comes to the determination of competition based on T level. They take no position otherwise.
I do. There is absolutely no reason why I should respect Semenya’s self-serving wishes in this matter. He can self-identify as whatever he wants, and I, in turn, can identify him as anything I want. Seeing what I have seen of how Semenya lives, it is entirely possible that my motivation is purer than is Semenya’s, because my only interest is to ensure fair competitive opportunities for others—I have no direct personal stake in this whatsoever, unlike Semenya.
While he may consider it personally insulting (and certainly inconvenient) to be referred to as a “he” in the track context, it is insulting (and certainly inconvenient) to others that Semenya asks/expects to be referred to as a “she” in that same track context. There is no good reason to elevate Semenya’s wishes above those of others, and there is IMO good reason not to.
Semenya is not the victim here, Semenya is the perp, and knows it. With the temporary assistance of a slow-moving and uncertain bureaucracy, he has exploited those weaker than himself for personal gain and glory. Based on his track-related actions, Semenya’s gender-identification wishes deserve no respect.