Olympics organisers moving towards blanket ban on transgender women from women's sport (news.sky.com)
from MicroWave@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 15:18
https://lemmy.world/post/38610526

The development comes after a presentation to the International Olympic Committee by its medical chief, which highlighted the potential physical advantages of competing in women’s sport after being born male.

#world

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FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca on 10 Nov 15:36 next collapse

Watch them ban transgender women and clowns like JK Rowling STILL accuse cis women in the Olympics of being trans

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 10 Nov 21:13 collapse

I mean they still say that about Imane Khelif so

[deleted] on 11 Nov 00:01 next collapse
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[deleted] on 11 Nov 13:58 collapse
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BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 14:27 next collapse

Lmao is that just some dude’s blog? Your accredited lab is bullshit, your blogger here literally spouts a bunch of hearsay and conjecture what about a clarification from the IOC implies, then has the gall to throw out the phrase “facts are facts.”

Also I love this: “3 Wire Sports remains the only journalistic outlet to have seen these 2022 and 2023 tests.” Holy shit lol.

But yeah, sure thing, whatever you say sweetie

[deleted] on 11 Nov 15:32 collapse
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TheBat@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 15:56 next collapse

<img alt="" src="https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/863/374/0ef.jpg">

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 15:58 collapse

Fun meme. But where is your proof otherwise?

TheBat@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 16:16 collapse

Says the girl giving random-ass blog as proof

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 17:38 collapse

It’s easy to dismiss that as a “random-ass blog” because you’re engaging in motivated reasoning, but it’s certainly not the only evidence:

www.snopes.com/…/imane-khelif-medical-records/

Again, you have nothing. It’s fun to argue and all, but I’ll remind anyone reading this that until evidence of Khelif being female is presented, any other response is sophistry meant to distract you.

TheBat@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 18:36 next collapse

Did you even read your own link?

The screenshots shown in Ait Aoudia’s reporting are unverified. Snopes reached out to the doctors and hospitals associated with the alleged reports. They either did not respond or would not, as a matter of policy, confirm their authenticity or if Khelif was ever a patient of theirs. Ait Aoudia did not provide Snopes with any details of his source(s).

Even if the reports published by Ait Aoudia are authentic, however, the alleged findings have been misrepresented. If true, they would not conclusively prove that Khelif “is a man.” Instead, as Snopes explains here, they would highlight the reality that, from a scientific standpoint, gender is not actually as binary as some suggest it to be.

So yeah, go fuck yourself with a cactus.

In case this asshat deletes her comment, this was the link given as ‘evidence’

www.snopes.com/…/imane-khelif-medical-records/

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 18:45 collapse

Why would I delete my comment? I’m well aware of what the link says. Khelif is biologically male and even in the sympathetic article I linked they don’t dispute that.

Gender isn’t binary, but sex is. Snopes is trying to confuse you by conflating sex and gender, but nobody’s arguing about what gender Khelif is.

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 18:44 collapse

you don’t have evidence! your shady blogs and discredited idiots are more like negative evidence! i mean, babygirl, did you read that snopes article? cuz i promise it doesn’t support what youre saying

key excerpts you must have missed, surely by accident:

The screenshots shown in Ait Aoudia’s reporting are unverified. Snopes reached out to the doctors and hospitals associated with the alleged reports. They either did not respond or would not, as a matter of policy, confirm their authenticity or if Khelif was ever a patient of theirs. Ait Aoudia did not provide Snopes with any details of his source

and

Even if the reports published by Ait Aoudia are authentic, however, the alleged findings have been misrepresented

those are almost at the top of the article!

so first i think you should ask someone to read this to you, then ask them to also read the rest of the snopes article, where it talks about the sex spectrum and intersexuality. none of which is in the article because it applies to khelif, but only to the nonsense brainless idiots spout. if you actually read the article you linked, you might realize that if someone was born with the corresponding genitalia, they might just be that sex, regardless of hormone levels or whatever genetic bullshit people wanna pretend applies to khelif so they can fantasize about azalia amineva still being undefeated.

i know youre a lost cause, but to anyone else who reads this thread, please remember: this is even dumber because even though none of it applies to khelif anyway, trans and intersex people are still fucking people and should be allowed to compete. not in their own league. theyre not undesireables. theyre not diseased. just let people play their games!

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 19:06 collapse

I guess this is on me, for assuming you’d comprehend the article. I’ll explain it to you though!

Sex is not a spectrum. Sex is a binary defined by the size of gametes your body is organized around producing. Sex phenotypes and genotypes are a spectrum, and Snopes is hoping that you’re too ignorant to understand that, which regrettably you are. Which is OK! Everyone’s ignorant of lots of stuff, this is a great time to learn something. When Snopes says things like “In other words, there are several ways to define gender”, you can completely ignore that, because it’s irrelevant to participation in women’s sports. There is no evidence that Khelif is female, and this entire matter could be put to rest with a simple, non-invasive, cheap cheek swab that would prove to everyone that Khelif is in fact female. It is good that the IOC will implement sex testing and put this matter to rest so we can focus on more important things.

Gender is a spectrum though! It’s a reflection of how you live in your body and that’s great! Except in sports, it makes a difference if you’ve gone through male puberty. Khelif has gone through male puberty on account of being male, which is unfair to female competitors. Trans people should get to compete in sports! But trans women that have gone through male puberty and males with DSDs (aka intersex, which is a confusing term for this reason) should compete in open/men’s leagues because of innate biological advantage. The IOC is doing this because they followed the scientific evidence.

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 19:31 collapse

no, im not talking about the gender spectrum, the snopes article WHICH YOU LINKED is talking about intersex people. people in between one sex or the other. who might fall closer to one side or the other for one reason or another. you know. a spectrum!

the article WHICH YOU LINKED describes in detail why chromosomes don't work as a binary way to define sex. the article WHICH YOU LINKED explains why you shouldn't take ait aoudia at his word. YOU LINKED IT, but then it explained why none of this intersex talk even applies to khelif in the first place, and YOU are now trying to discredit it. genuinely i hope you're a bot of some sort because these mental gymnastics are way too good for the human division

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 20:06 collapse

I linked to it because it’s a sympathetic source that you would actually read. I realized that it was mealy-mouthed about gender vs sex when I linked it, but had hoped that you could see that even a sympathetic take acknowledges that Khelif is male.

Intersex is a confusing term, and it has confused you. That’s OK though! Sex is still not a spectrum. Khelif is male due to producing the smaller of two (i.e. binary) gamete sizes in humans, which is how sex is defined. 5αR2D is a male DSD, which means Khelif is ineligible for women’s sports. That’s what men’s and open leagues are for though!

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 20:10 collapse

It doesn't acknowledge Khelif as male in any way at all, not even in the completely irrelevant idiot way you're pretending sex is defined. Read the thing for fucks sake lmao

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 20:47 collapse

Glad I can help you learn something today! Sex is defined by gamete size. Unfortunately, disputing like you’ve done is unscientific. The linked article that goes over the definition is a great place to start for a beginner though!

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 21:00 collapse

I know I told you to find someone else to read for you, but I won’t be that person, sorry. However, rest assured, the Wikipedia article you linked also doesn’t claim what you say it does. Have a shitty day!

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 21:06 collapse

I’ll help you out with the first sentence!

Sex is the biological trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes.

BremboTheFourth@piefed.ca on 11 Nov 21:13 collapse

“Male and female” were synonyms for “large and small,” huh? I hope you manage to get past the first sentence of an article one day

Before you come at me with the end of that paragraph, try reading the end of it too. Still not a binary!

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 22:34 collapse

Let me know where you’re misunderstanding it and I’ll do my best to help break it down!

Sex is binary because there are two sizes of gametes, large and small. Those two are the only options, and thus sex is a binary. In humans, sex is determined by chromosomes, but defined by gamete size. Variations in phenotype and genotype are variations within a sex.

You might be confused by the term “hermaphrodite”. It’s possible for some organisms to produce both gamete sizes! But sex is still a binary, because you’ll notice they produce both sizes. Some animals can even change sex during their lifetimes or have their sex determined by temperature while they develop 🤯 It’s true! But humans aren’t like that, we’re sexually dimorphic. Our bodies are organized around producing one or the other of two gamete sizes for our entire lives.

Now you might be wondering why we care about defining sex. Why bother? 🤔 The answer is because it’s the only defining trait that works across an enormous swath of the animal kingdom! Biology is hard and messy and it’s amazing we found such a handy distinction. Some organisms such as fungi have mating types instead of sex, but in anisogamous species we define sex by gamete size because it’s the only coherent definition.

WoodScientist@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 19:49 collapse

Go die in a fire.

flamingo_pinyata@sopuli.xyz on 10 Nov 15:50 next collapse

If it wasn’t for the culture wars, it would be another Oscar Pistorius situation. Not the murder, the prosthetics.

For those who don’t know this guy was a runner whose legs were amputated, and he got replacement prosthetics that made him as good if not better than runners with natural legs. There was some debate if his disability actually gives him an advantage, if it should be allowed at all.

azrv@sh.itjust.works on 10 Nov 20:39 collapse

And proceeded to shoot his girlfriend on valentine’s day.

YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today on 10 Nov 21:24 next collapse

Blindly, through a bathroom door. Reading about that fucked me up.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 10:39 collapse

Right, but before he became a murderer he was an inspiration to many people.

The news of his trial hit many people like a punch in the gut. How could such an inspirational person commit such a horrible crime? It was one of the worst feelings of betrayal experienced by the public.

azrv@sh.itjust.works on 12 Nov 18:19 collapse

Tragic, yea. Inspiring persona, shitty person.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 16:10 next collapse
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bravesilvernest@lemmy.ml on 10 Nov 16:16 next collapse

If people are explicitly transitioning for that reason, sure. They transitioned years ago and have worked through the actual process of training in a sport they love: fuck them, I guess. A woman that has too high levels of natural T: Get outta here! Someone complained that you are cheating: hit the road!

This is the rhetoric that right wingers push, and is just a dangerous fucking road to travel.

YiddishMcSquidish@lemmy.today on 10 Nov 21:29 collapse

Seriously. Imagine thinking that someone would put themselves through that kinda endocrine disruption, societal scrutiny/isolation, just for a trophy. I’m assuming from context clues homie said something along the lines of “what about dudes that transition so they get a competitive edge?”

TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org on 10 Nov 17:35 next collapse

This person above me literally thinks that people are willing to go through with making permanent changes to their bodies just to cheat at sports or be pervs in bathrooms or some shit and not to, you know, have their body match who they really are more closely.

TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub on 10 Nov 20:25 next collapse

Jesus Christ don’t put words in my mouth! See what I wrote, I never said it was the main reason they transitioned. I don’t even get how would you relate my comment to bathroom pervs.

Any arguments related to sports performance, which was my main point?

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 10:48 collapse

At the time when Oscar Pistorious was competing, there was an actual conversation around the fear that people would get their legs amputated so they could get prosthetics like he had if it would gain them a competitive advantage. No one actually knew if his prosthetic legs gave a real advantage because there was no way to do a comparison without having a real athlete go through the amputations.

If you look into the scene around body building and the extreme lengths people go to with steroids, extreme diets, dehydration and more, it doesn’t seem all that implausible that some people would transition in order to gain a competitive advantage. Heck, some people deliberately get their legs broken in order to stretch out the bones just so they can be taller (no competitive reason). That’s an extremely painful process undergone for less extreme reasons.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 17:37 next collapse

Probably don't talk about people's transitions if you have no clue what you're talking about. Thanks!

TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub on 10 Nov 20:23 collapse

Thanks for your prompt but superficial comment! I’ll give it the proper consideration!

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 20:32 collapse

Don't bother. You have no idea what you're talking about. The advantage you assume exists doesn't. There's no deluge of trans people overtaking cis people at any sport.

You're fear mongering about shit you don't understand remotely. Shut the fuck up.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 20:32 collapse
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toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 20:34 collapse

Do some fucking research then.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 20:34 collapse
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toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 20:35 collapse

No.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 20:35 collapse
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Triumph@fedia.io on 10 Nov 17:43 next collapse

Or maybe trans women athletes just want to ... compete in athletics? If you look at how successful the extremely small number of such athletes are, you will find that they succeed at completely normal rates.

Someone once pointed out to me "Oh but what about this one?" to which I replied, "Ah, so trans women athletes are only a 'problem' when they succeed."

tl;dr: Go fuck yourself.

TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub on 10 Nov 20:22 collapse

Any data you can throw at me before hurling insults? I find it hard to believe that their performance is on par with their female peers, specially in contact sports.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 20:41 collapse

I thought you did research. Must have been too hard for you.

TeamAssimilation@infosec.pub on 10 Nov 20:43 collapse

Is it unreasonable to ask for your research, when mine contradicts yours? Specially with the confidence you stated your facts.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 20:45 collapse

Apparently, since you never did. Do I just need to use small words for you, so you can understand what's being discussed?

Naich@lemmings.world on 10 Nov 19:31 next collapse

If you knew any trans people you would realise just how fucking stupid what you wrote is.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 20:17 collapse
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Tarquinn2049@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 20:48 collapse

There is no actual advantage, they are restricted from competing for 2 years after transitioning, and any advantage is already lost during the first year.

Basically, the problem was already solved decades ago. Since that 2 year period was implemented, there has -provably- never been a case of unfair advantage. Any of the ones hitting the news lately have all been disproven.

Anyone still trying to push for it now has not actually looked into it and believing disinformation spread by, at best ignorant people and at worst hateful people.

No one transitions with regards to how they will perform at sports. People transition for themselvrs, and some percentage of people also like competing at sports. They don’t want to never be able to compete again due to random unrelated or unaffected people not knowing they don’t have an advantage.

That is why people that say dumb stuff like you are doing, get downvoted. Please actually look it up, instead of just guessing and being another spreader.

[deleted] on 10 Nov 21:00 next collapse
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shalafi@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 23:19 collapse

Been wondering about this! Sure age of transition doesn’t play a factor, even after 2 years? I can’t see how a teen transitioning isn’t different from an older man transitioning.

Lyra_Lycan@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 10 Nov 16:14 next collapse

Trans men are okay then? Sick, as long as the freaks don’t see them they’re safe

wewbull@feddit.uk on 10 Nov 16:19 next collapse

Just make the mens competition an “open” competition so that anybody can qualify if they can. A trans-woman competing in the “open” category would be no problem.

Other categories can then stay protected.

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 17:49 next collapse

Couldn’t there just be an open category in addition to men’s and women’s?

wewbull@feddit.uk on 10 Nov 17:54 next collapse

I don’t think men need a protected category for most sports, so having both would just be duplication.

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 19:30 collapse

If nothing else, it’s just options for someone to pick from. Why allow one person more choices and not another? Everyone should have the same ability to choose.

GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca on 10 Nov 21:36 collapse

We already have that. Men can join the men’s sport, which is usually open, like the NHL, but a restricted group can join the women’s sport. So women already have two choices - join a group where they are statistically unlikely to win, or compete against a group which is a better representation of her peers.

If you want more restricted groups, sure, why not? But the more groups there are, the more most sports will be diluted.

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 21:48 collapse

Thank you for the insight. I don’t watch or care about the Olympics or sports in general, so this whole conversation is moot. But to clarify, I was thinking more broadly about events at the Olympics, not just traditional sports. I’d think something like archery or fencing or something that’s not purely strength related would be more even.

GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca on 10 Nov 21:57 collapse

There are some interesting cases. It took a long time for men to break into synchronized swimming, where women typically have the advantage. Archery still has some strength elements that could be relevant, but shooting should be pretty egalitarian and is still split, as far as I know.

I have never been particularly into sports, and stopped watching the Olympics very much when the amateur requirements were relaxed (when hockey was dominated by NHL stars). There may be some nuances I’m missing, and there is also the aspect of making a sport/competition more welcoming to women, such as women’s chess. While those are interesting social/cultural aspects, they have much less bearing on capabilities of a given sex/gender.

frongt@lemmy.zip on 10 Nov 18:32 next collapse

It would be dominated by men.

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 19:24 collapse
  1. Thats not necessarily true. Depends on the event.

  2. Having a choice of being in a men’s only vs an open category would allow them the choice as opposed to forcing all men to be in the open category, there by reducing the number of men entering in the open category. There would be less opportunity for that to happen.

CaptainThor@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 00:00 collapse

Men’s IS the open category

SpicyTaint@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 01:12 collapse

Thank you for clarifying.

To reiterate my reply to another user, I don’t really watch or care about the Olympics or sports in general. I just out of my ass about things I know nothing about.

Still seems weird to me, though.

lepinkainen@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 17:55 next collapse

In many sports it already is

ameancow@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 21:33 next collapse

We’re only a matter of time from a sporting regime where it’s just broadly “open” to a level bordering on chaos, and it’s the only thing that is going to keep people watching.

The “should trans people compete” debate is going to be overshadowed by the “should people with extra hearts and enhanced organs be allowed to compete” debate.

The idea of “preserving fairness” in sports is wild when you think about it. Nothing about sports is “fair” you only succeed by getting an unfair advantage over your opponents, we just like to delude ourselves into thinking that because we set some kind of parameters around this capability to gain an advantage, that it’s “fair.”

shalafi@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 23:07 collapse

I get the giggles watching Anatoly prank videos. He plays a nerdy, Eastern European janitor, pushing a mop around the gym. He regularly astounds the much larger guys by effortlessly lifting their weights.

One of his gags is casually handing the monster weightlifters his 32kg mop. They instantly drop it, “Is there problem? See! Is normal mop.” Picks it up one handed, zero strain.

This one is great! Girls are trying not to straight make fun of him talking about ab training. “Show us yours.” Aight. (Can’t find the better version where you can see his abs, but he’s a monster.)

Whatever his training regime, it’s obvious he has muscle density bordering on superhuman. Talk about advantage!

Or look at Michael Phelps. Dude smokes and is basically Aquaman. I forget what’s unusual about his body, but he’s a rare one.

yeather@lemmy.ca on 11 Nov 20:50 collapse

Webbed fingers and toes, and disproportionately long arms for more power.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 23:54 collapse

Isn’t there something about Phelp’s weirdly long torso?

yeather@lemmy.ca on 13 Nov 00:12 collapse

I think that’s part of it, more torso than legs helps in core power and super long arms for power generation.

ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 11 Nov 06:02 collapse

'cause I know I feel welcome, and not completely othered and invalidated when I’m forced to play on a team that is otherwise entirely men, whom have athletic advantage over me

DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 22:09 collapse

Who said it would be entirely men? Chess had this format forever and any woman that had the ability to compete in the top level open tournaments was competing in them.

ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 12 Nov 01:34 next collapse

Who said it would be entirely men?

First hand experience

mhague@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 13:45 collapse

Same chess where men creep on women and female grandmasters report being harassed whenever they try to compete alongside men?

I don’t think women feel welcome when you can accost them and if they say anything they’re just a bitch lying to cause problems.

DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 15:14 collapse

So instead of addressing the misogyny, let’s sweet it under the rug by not allowing women to compete in the top tournaments? By your logic, shouldn’t we just make a third transgender category to solve the transphobia?

Triumph@fedia.io on 10 Nov 17:39 next collapse

What about the potential physical advantages of competing in women's sport after being born strong?

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 10 Nov 17:56 next collapse

They don't give a fuck about fair competition so that's irrelevant. This is just bigotry.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 23:01 collapse

You didn’t answer the question. And it’s a valid question to my mind. See my reply to the above.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 11 Nov 00:21 collapse

Let me ask you a question in turn. How many trans women are placing well in sports? Numbers, percentages, whatever you've got. How many cis women have had their rightful first place stolen by someone who's just naturally better by merit of how they were born?

In answer to your question, transition does a lot, more than you would expect. It's pretty statistically clear that the residual effects of going through the wrong puberty haven't caused a physical ability imbalance that renders competition unfair. We haven't seen any such thing play out, unless you consider any trans woman placing ever as inherently unfair and stealing results from cis women.

I want to know where this outrage was for Michael Phelps. We didn't see legislation passed to deperson Andre the Giant. There are huge biological differences between people, and some people have an advantage in sport by merit of how their body works. There's never outrage against gifted men.

Women have to suffer the brunt of this line of attack. Many cis women, for some reason especially women of color, get attacked as men if they have elevated testosterone, chromosomal abnormalities, or many other random biological quirks that someone doesn't think is fair. Imane Khalif, a cis woman, gets attacked for not being a woman. Lin Yu Ting gets attacked for not being a woman. Caster Semenya gets attacked for not being a woman.

This trans panic in sports is not about fairness. Nobody making these decisions are doing so to create a balanced competition. This is sexism and transphobia being used to police women to ensure they're feminine enough to appear on the world stage.

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 14:10 collapse

Imane Khelif, Lin Yu Ting, and Caster Semenya are all biologically male (not trans, DSD males incorrectly assigned female at birth). No cis women won a medal in the 2016 Rio 800m, all of the medal winners were DSD male. That would likely continue to be the case except they are no longer eligible for the women’s category.

Michael Phelps’ records have already been surpassed. DSD males competing in women’s sports set records that cis woman will never surpass. It is not surprising that the vast majority of people find this unfair. The IOC is doing the right thing.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 11 Nov 14:17 next collapse

Exactly my point. Thanks for illustrating it.

canofcam@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 14:05 collapse

So, none of the people mentioned are trans women? Why exactly are you making these comments?

powerstruggle@sh.itjust.works on 12 Nov 17:18 collapse

I focused on those athletes because they’re the motivating factors behind this decision. DSD males and trans women both have the innate advantage of male puberty, which is why the IOC is making this move. To focus specifically on trans women, here’s one example out of many on why we have separate competitions for men and women (not a sympathetic article, but factual):

quillette.com/…/the-scandal-of-ana-caldas-and-the…

In 2016, a Portuguese-American athlete named Hannah Caldas participated in the female category of the “Monstar Games,” a large fitness competition held in Rio de Janeiro. The Games included a weightlifting challenge run by Brazil’s Fortify Equipamentos sporting-goods retail chain, whereby contestants were scored on how many times they could lift heavy balls over their heads in the space of a minute.

An event official asked Caldas to choose between one of two balls—weighing thirty and seventy pounds, respectively.

“How about the 120?” Caldas replied, pointing to a third, much larger ball.

According to Caldas’s subsequent recollection, the official explained that this wasn’t a realistic option for contestants registered in the female category, since “no girls had been able to pick it up.”

“Challenge accepted!” Caldas later wrote on Instagram. While a fellow athlete named Joyce Rodrigues filmed, Caldas proceeded to heave the 120-pound weight into the air no fewer than sixteen times.

The idea that biological males don’t have an athletic advantage over females is plainly, obviously wrong

USMS records indicate that it was 23 January 2009 when a new swimming sensation identified as “Hannah Caldas” suddenly appeared on the women’s USMS racing scene. Despite being a complete unknown, Caldas immediately began dominating the competition in the 30–34-year-old age group—including winning five out of six events at Caldas’s inaugural tournament in Charlotte, NC. The performances were so astounding that Caldas reportedly almost hit a benchmark time for Portugal’s women’s Olympic swimming team (missing the cut by a mere 0.3 seconds).

This would be a shockingly impressive athletic run for anyone—let alone a (nominal) rookie such as Caldas, who was able to blast past former NCAA swimming stars with ease despite having no collegiate training as a female athlete; and who was, by this point in life, a full decade past the prime age for Olympic-calibre swimmers.

That’s why the argument that trans women are only 0.X% of competitors doesn’t hold any water. They can still dominate a sport and deny medals to any cis women competing. This is now becoming an issue at the Olympic level which is why the IOC is addressing it, but people have tracked many more cases at sites like hecheated.org. Whether or not you like the people behind that or similar sites, it’s more about the facts.

shalafi@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 23:00 next collapse

I question that as well. The strength advantage seems to be a factor of how early one transitions. If we figure that in, now we have another controversy, another fat can of worms.

They’re probably thinking along these lines and just saying, “Fuck it, total ban, zero tolerance.”

Triumph@fedia.io on 10 Nov 23:11 collapse

You may have misunderstood the point of my rhetorical question. I will elaborate.

What about people who are born with XX chromosomes, and all the associated lady bits, who happen to be especially strong? Or tall? Or flexible? Or any other kind of physical difference that would give them an advantage in their chosen sport?

Wouldn't those people have exactly the same kind of "unfair advantage"?

"Oh, wait, that's not what we mean," the Olympics organizers might say. "We are only concerned with one kind of innate physical difference, and not any others."

MajorasTerribleFate@lemmy.zip on 11 Nov 05:30 collapse

“We’re only concerned with one kind of innate physical difference, and not any others.”

I remember writing up something in the same vein in a comment on another platform some months ago. It’s nice to see someone else on the same train of thought :)

manuallybreathing@lemmy.ml on 11 Nov 00:58 next collapse

Of theres one thinf I know about babies, it’s that about half of them are born strong

you clearly dont know what youre talking about

WoodScientist@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 19:54 collapse

There are none. That doesn’t stop bigots from pretending trans women on estrogen have any advantage.

HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 10 Nov 20:05 next collapse

I think a lot of people are going to boycott these Olympics. The trump regime doesn’t deserve to host.

Ilixtze@lemmy.ml on 10 Nov 20:45 next collapse

boycott the olympics then

T00l_shed@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 01:14 collapse

Another reason to

astutemural@midwest.social on 10 Nov 21:21 next collapse

Sooo…

-Trans athletes form their own leagues. -Other athletes start competing because they go where the competition is and/or ideological reasons. -Olympics slowly become irrelevant.

Good job, Olympics.

I will remind everyone that as of 2023, about 3% of 18-24 yr olds identified as transgender. That’s a lot of people, and that percentage is only going to go up.

CaptainThor@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 23:57 collapse

That sounds super duper likely

CovfefeKills@lemmy.world on 10 Nov 22:02 next collapse

You should want to abolish the premise of womens sports that’s progressive, otherwise you are admitting women should be in leagues of their own.

Taleya@aussie.zone on 10 Nov 22:09 next collapse

Welp, time for the Queer Olympics to become a thing again.

webp@mander.xyz on 11 Nov 01:12 collapse

A competition of the fastest, strongest, sweatiest gays…

Wren@lemmy.today on 11 Nov 07:23 collapse

In the greek tradition we will bring back the kynodesme.

Taleya@aussie.zone on 11 Nov 21:46 collapse

Zero downsides

ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one on 11 Nov 00:27 next collapse

Weird how it’s only about trans women and never trans men.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 03:03 next collapse

I don’t think it’s that weird. The men’s competitions don’t forbid anyone from competing if they can qualify. Cis women are allowed, and in some cases have competed in men’s sports, such as hockey. Men’s divisions should more properly be called “open” divisions.

fodor@lemmy.zip on 11 Nov 03:20 next collapse

I see … Although they are not called that, are they. So now you’re accusing the organizers of basic incompetence or dishonesty. Which is it? … And if either of those is accurate, it raises other questions, too.

explodicle@sh.itjust.works on 11 Nov 03:35 next collapse

I think they’re incompetent at choosing the correct word and would like to understand what this implies.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 03:41 next collapse

No, you’re putting words into my mouth. I never accused them of basic incompetence.

Women’s sports have rules that say (some variation of) “you must be a woman to join.” Men’s sports don’t have any rules like that. Women play in lower level men’s sports all the time. They just don’t make it to the top level.

Stabbitha@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 03:54 collapse

now you’re accusing

Putting words in people’s mouths is an extremely immature debate tactic, don’t expect anyone to respect you or take you seriously doing that.

LwL@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 09:21 collapse

Don’t (most) transmen inject/otherwise take testosterone? That would be doping if a cis man did it. So I do think there’s an argument there (not really any better than the argument against transwomen in women’s sports, in both cases imo hormone levels just need to be monitored and you can have pretty much equal competition).

I also think at the top level it’s not entirely invalid to say you don’t want people with heavily modified bodies competing. Anything that isn’t either the global top level or professional I find it completely ridiculous though, the level is just so wildly variant that any tiny advantage potentially gained from that is negligible anyway.

But also everything I know about the science behind it tells me trans athletes are completely fine (in trans womens case after some minimum time or HRT) because as it turns out hormones kinda determine everything about your body.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 12:09 collapse

The range matters. If you’re taking T prescribed by your doctor to get within the normal range for your gender (regardless of reason, whether you’re trans or if you have T deficiency as a cis man) then you won’t be barred from competition.

Where you cross the line is when you inject T to go above the normal range in order to build muscle and recover faster. That’s what’s considered doping and doctors can’t ethically prescribe that.

Wren@lemmy.today on 11 Nov 07:18 next collapse
ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 07:22 next collapse

They’ll just force them to compete against women, then when a trans man wins, it’ll be sold as “man pretending to be woman steals medals from women”, then extend the whole trans ban.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 18:07 collapse

Its weird? Really?

No… come on man, im sure you can figure this one out… youre playing dumb anyway.

pika@lemmy.today on 11 Nov 01:57 next collapse

Even the reporting is biased; trans women aren’t born male.

Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 11 Nov 04:15 next collapse

What? I’m confused. Are you talking about how not all trans women are born males, that we have been women all along, or is this some new grammar I’m missing?

pika@lemmy.today on 11 Nov 15:49 collapse

I’m saying trans women are women. They might be born with xy chromosomes most of the time, or they might be born with a functioning penis and testes most of the time, but they are still women.

It’s why we say “assigned male at birth” instead of “born male”.

Edit: I’ll clarify this even further by reminding everyone that being trans is not a choice, and most – if not all – of the current science shows that being trans is the result of fetal developmental changes of the brain in the womb.

Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 11 Nov 15:53 collapse

Oh, thank you for clarifying. I did not notice that little bit. You are right though. That shit gets so suttle sometimes. Amab not “born male.” I honestly wouldn’t have caught that. Well, i didn’t haha.

pika@lemmy.today on 11 Nov 16:05 collapse

It can be subtle and nuanced for sure! Some people probably thought my comment was ignorant or transphobic.

Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 11 Nov 16:09 collapse

It definitely made me have to stop and ask. I’m glad i did. Thanks for being an awesome internet person 😊

kerrigan778@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 11 Nov 07:21 collapse

What!?

fodor@lemmy.zip on 11 Nov 03:18 next collapse

Fuck the Olympics. It’s corrupt, it’s full of cheaters and gamblers, and now more bigotry.

LadyButterfly@reddthat.com on 11 Nov 16:08 next collapse

This is just an excuse to attack trans people under the guise of fairness. It’s horrible

ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 22:19 next collapse

*This is an excuse for the Seven Mountain Mandate to “save people who wouldn’t otherwise understand from hellfire”.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 18:04 collapse

“Under the guise of fairness”

Geezus good lordy. No one can even try to be fair anymore lest they be judged as being “homophobic”…

yall suck…

SaraTonin@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 18:44 next collapse

They should also ban tall people from playing basketball. They have a potential physical advantage over short people.

[deleted] on 12 Nov 12:30 next collapse
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Makhno@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 12:42 next collapse

Dont try and speak logically about this

JandroDelSol@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 13:45 next collapse

if they got surgery to reduce their size would you be okay with it?

[deleted] on 12 Nov 13:59 collapse
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toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 12 Nov 15:24 collapse

So the effort trans women put in to compete doesn't count for anything, people just decide to transition to win sporting events, and trans women are men with a different body. Wow, you really hit the trifecta of shit takes.

MapleEngineer@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 16:34 collapse

Wow, those are quite the arguments I put forward in your head. I notice that you didn’t adress any of my questions about fairnes.

If you want to have a conversation please answer my questions. If you just want to hiss and spit I’ll take a pass.

toomanypancakes@piefed.world on 12 Nov 17:04 next collapse

Sorry, it's not worth having baby's first "what is a trans person" conversation with you, which would be clearly needed before delving into the nitty gritty. Take that pass! Go somewhere else.

MapleEngineer@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 17:32 collapse

I’ve probably had trans friends since before you were born. Don’t lecture me.

You don’t want to have the discussion of fairness because it’s hard and chanting slogans, organizing boycots, and labelling anyone who doesn’t agree with the group thought a transphobe is easy.

If you want to have a converation, I’m here. If you just want to hiss and spit, I’ll pass.

jordanlund@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 20:23 collapse

There are no legitimate questions about the fairness of it:

genderjustice.us/…/trans-athletes-are-not-the-rea…

“In fact, after hormone therapy, trans women’s performance aligns with cisgender women’s performance.”

The key bit there being “hormone therapy”.

Your notion that men choose to compete as women so they can dominate is absolute, complete, 100% transphobic bullshit.

That’s not the way ANY of this works.

The real question to ask is why Republicans want to ban hormone therapy.

SaraTonin@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 18:22 collapse

Tall people were born tall.

The tallest baby ever born was 28 inches tall. That’s 2’4”.

I’m not tall, but I’m taller than that.

I put it to you that babies are born short and grow over time.

MapleEngineer@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 19:12 next collapse

That’s a pedantic argument.

[deleted] on 12 Nov 19:32 collapse
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ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net on 12 Nov 13:18 next collapse

No, they should get rid of men/women split and divide people into tiers. Each athlete would be assigned to tier based on his performance and we would have gold, silver and bronze medals in each tier. We would then say “Phelps won a Tier A gold medal in the Olympics” or “Williams won Tier D gold medal”. This way it would be 100% fair and non-discriminatory.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 18:01 collapse

… its not the same at all. And no I won’t explain all the reasons why.

Dearth@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 20:39 next collapse

The Olympic committee has had well established rules on transgender athletes for decades. This change is ridiculous. They might as well go back to chromosomal testing for athletes. It makes as much sense as this nonsense

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world on 11 Nov 20:44 collapse

The Olympic committee has had well established rules on transgender athletes for decades

What are they? The article says “leaving it for each sport to decide themselves.” which doesn’t sound consistent.

ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net on 12 Nov 13:04 collapse

I’m not sure but I will comment anyway.

I believe each sport’s federation has rules they decide themselves and those are normally used but sometimes the Olympic Committee will ban a federation because of corruption or some mismanagement and take over organization of those specific events. They did it with boxing in the previous Olympics for example. When they do it they have to decide which rules will apply and looks like now they decided the default rules for all sports that fall under their jurisdiction. Last time with boxing they decided to use the same rules that were used 4 years earlier which meant some previously banned athletes where allowed to compete and a lot of participants complained.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 15:59 collapse

Hmm. “Established” is factually correct but I’m not sure “well established” is a good description.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 14:29 next collapse

Well, I personally consider that great news that I can agree with… sorry if you dont feel the same.

cv_octavio@piefed.ca on 12 Nov 14:49 next collapse

Who fucking cares about this irrelevant pissing contest anymore. It’s all politics and doping scandals, what does the undercarriage have to do with ANY of that? Why would anyone even aspire to even compete in this in today’s world.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 17:59 collapse

Public schooled?

cv_octavio@piefed.ca on 12 Nov 22:09 collapse

Careful, your prejudice might be showing. It’d be awfully embarassing for people to find out how terribly simplistic the paradigms are with which you’re evaluating worthiness of your peers.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 23:14 collapse

It would be a shame if others realized i prejudged them on there subpar education.

It would be a shame that I so accurately deduce the competency of the masses.

I think my elitist simplistic paradigms are showing…

I hate that I have to dumb down my speech so that the ignorant masses can comprehend

crabArms@lemmy.world on 13 Nov 02:23 collapse

…prejudged them on there subpar education

Very funny to use the wrong homophone in your weird cringey diatribe about how much smarter and more educated you are than everyone else

aceshigh@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 14:57 next collapse

Do trans women keep placing number 1 during competition?

Blackmist@feddit.uk on 12 Nov 15:38 next collapse

No, but there was that fuss last year at the Olympics because some of the boxers looked manly. They weren’t even trans, incidentally, not that that little fact ever made the headlines or the Facebook groups.

Soktopraegaeawayok@lemmy.world on 12 Nov 17:57 collapse

You’re right, thats a very important factor to consider. We shouldnt worry about it until they start consistently placing in first place. Thats when flags will/should be raised.

biotin7@sopuli.xyz on 12 Nov 15:59 collapse

Well well well, so much for being inclusive. Fucking pricks