I do think the argument of a transwoman wanting to compete because of a perceived advantage is a little alarmist. Like @shamrockgooner said, we haven’t really seen that happen, transfolks are such a tiny percentage of the population and the idea that some chucklefuck from Barstool would “declare” himself a woman for a day so he could break a world record isn’t something that anyone would take seriously.
No, not yet but it shouldn’t have got this far and the fact it has, means it could go further.
This should have been stamped out ages ago and it’s only a very noisy minority that think it’s ok but because they shout the loudest, they are getting their own way.
I think people are focusing too much on whether people would undertake this mainly or purely for the benefit of improving their sporting ranking. This is somewhere between a very small issue and a non-issue.
What should be being focused on is purely whether the individual has an unfair advantage over their rivals due to their sex. If so, there either need to be adjustments made to the sport to compensate (very difficult to do effectively), or they shouldn’t be able to compete in that category.
Yeah it sucks for them, but it would be equally disheartening for an opponent pushed down the rankings due to an unfair advantage, regardless of whether that’s the reason they became transgender
It’s still a relatively new issue. A lot of governing bodies simply haven’t had the time or money to tackle it, or, in a lot of cases it involves younger people where the issue is even more complicated.
I know people want to paint this as a straightforward issue but legally and administratively it just isn’t.
Again, I never advocate for the involvement of such athletes to be approved but I will advocate when the issue is overblown or they are accused of doing it just to make winning easier.
I have no idea, I know none of them or what their intentions are. Maybe I’m naive, but to someone to go through such a massive surgical makeover just to be best in a sport… I mean some of those sports won’t make you financially independent or bring you superstar fame anyway.
I think surgery is required to compete in UK sports. Maybe only Canada at college level for athletes who only self-ID. I think America is a mixture at college level depending on state, and the most liberal will be a bit like the Olympics where you’d need to alter testosterone level for at least a year at point of application to compete. I think I read somewhere that even with reduced testosterone levels it still gives a MTF athlete about a 4% advantage, which is probably a big advantage in sport. At the moment I’d say it’s not a huge deal, but one which could potentially become one given that more people are choosing to transition than ever before. It also sucks for the few female athletes who encounter the problem and who lose out unfairly. It’s a tricky one with no obvious solution.
Surely the best solution is for transwomen to adhere to all the rules and regulations that ciswomen have to abide by. Especially when it comes to testosterone levels.
Why is everyone focusing on testosterone, ignoring male and female muscle fibre is different, bone density is different, the ratio of hip width is different, lung capacity is different all of these matter when playing sport; men just have advantages over women regardless of hormone replacement or whether they castrate themselves.