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Transgender athletes face growing hostility: four tell their stories in their own words
(www.usatoday.com)
this post was submitted on 30 Mar 2024
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Sport is such an unfair world, trying to find equality and justice in it is futile. We don't want kids taking growth hormones to boost their chances of making it into the NBA. But that also means we crush the dream of plenty of people. Athletes with asthma can't use their inhaler under certain circumstances. A few years ago an UFC fighter with Asthma got his win overturned because he used an inhaler inbetween rounds.
There was a huge discussion about allowing prosthetics in "regular" competition. Turned out at the time that proshetics weren't advanced enough to give an advantage. But I think we all know that this is only a matter of time. And eventually a hard ruling needs to be made that dictates in which direction sport goes.
Banning athletes who take as many hormones, hormone blockers, and other mediaction as transwomen usually take is 100% something that needs to happen. Especially considering that in certain leagues the usage of these substances is the only reason that transwomen are allowed to compete. That feels against the spirit of sport and TUEs. But untill more data exist, I doubt a useful ruling can be made.
What I don't like about the whole discussion is going for the "They aren't real women" argument. That feels degrading and hurtful for everyone involved. I don't want cis or transwomen to have to undergo inspections to determine their gender.
Those hormone blockers block testosterone and the hormones they take are estrogen. Those are not exactly performance enhancing actions. In fact, they do the opposite. If anything, we should be making sure that trans women competing in sports should be taking hormone blockers and estrogen.
You need to re-examine your take because it is truly baffling.
Why do transgender athletes have such a problem with competing in the all-comers category instead of the women’s category, which is reserved for XX born females who have been producing all of the hormones you describe above since birth?
You just made up those requirements. Are XXX and XXY women not allowed to compete in your sport that you made up the requirements for? What about women with Swyer syndrome?
As for why women would prefer competing in a women's competition, that question kind of answers itself.
Thankfully we can test for which mutations of sex chromosomes produce hormonal profiles that are equivalent to XX born females. In fact, we do that already! :)
But the "hormones" you generically refer to, aka fucking estrogen lol, and hormone blockers Trans women take aren't an advantage. Ask any trans women, they make you weaker....
Like why point out trans women when trans MEN are taking a hormone that actually promotes strength and athleticism? TERF vibes
They make you weaker, perhaps, but are you at the same level as a cis woman who was never exposed to that level of testosterone?
And trans men are just competing against men that naturally produce those same hormones.
It is simply a complex issue that defies a simple answer.
There are plenty of cis women that have higher natural t levels than men, that's why many sports already required people stay under certain t levels before trans sporting rights were even in the question.
The effects of increased testosterone last a long time, even if it’s being blocked. And how exactly are testosterone levels being monitored? When? When, if ever, do the athletic advantages of male puberty and testosterone wear off?
People have reasonable and legitimate concerns beyond accusations of transphobia. Sweeping those concerns under the rug and acting like they are unfounded will earn the trans community little support.
So you're threatening your support of the trans community based on whether or not people agree with your sports opinions. Or, at least you're implying it's legitimate that people would do so. L take. Transphobic vibes.
Not agree, but willing to at least engage in a good faith discussion of issues rather than resorting to accusations of transphobia.
This is not a good faith discussion on your part and the fact that you don't realize that is why I'm calling you transphobic.
You clearly don’t know what a good faith discussion is.
A good faith discussion starts with someone not being transphobic, and someone not tone-policing trans people for being concerned about the rampant transphobia on this post
Anyone who disagrees with me is transphobic! It’s obviously not possible for me to be wrong!
Every woman has variations in their hormone makeups and history. Besides, the pool of trans women athletes is just so small, and the amount of vitriol is so disproportionate and obviously rooted in transphobia.
The variations between biological men and women are larger and more significant than those between women.
And it isn’t that insignificant. Lia Thomas won an NCAA title, beating an Olympic silver medalist. Laurel Hubbard went to the Olympics. She lived as male 35 years before transitioning. She had given up weightlifting decades earlier. But at that age with little training, she suddenly qualified for the Olympics.
So cool you know about all the accomplishments of trans women!!!!
With your passion and drive, you would absolutely be a force to be reckoned with and a wonderful asset. It is such a shame that you are struggling so much with petty name calling and insults because instead of helping the trans cause, the actual effect you have is absolutely the opposite. You hurt it tremendously. You 100% come across as someone who is uneducated, childish, and mindlessly mean. You lack the ability to respond to anyone in a way that encourages them to see things from your point of view.
I'm sure that deep down you have some good points, you are just currently utterly unable to convey them. This is not a reason to give up though, just a reason to spend some time self reflecting. You can be so much better and more useful than you currently are. Not only will that help your community, but it will also help you enjoy your life more on a personal level.
The trans community is full of so many unspeakable incredibly amazing individuals. I'm sure you can find some to look up to and learn from. Good luck. I know you've got it in you!
lmao I'm not here to convince transphobic people of anything. take your smug tone-policing and shove it up your damn ass
boohoo waaaaa I said someone has terf vibes 😭😭😭😭
Then maybe ask yourself this - Why are you here?
Put another way, what do you think that you have accomplished with this last comment? Do you think you hurt my feelings? If so, do you think my feelings being hurt benefited you in some way?
If you aren't here to help other people understand your point of view, and you're not trying to understand other peoples point of view, then what are you accomplishing by spending your time here?
Does it make you feel better by treating people like this? Do you leave this app feeling better or worse?
I hope you feel better soon, it hurts to see you struggling so hard. Your current way of trying to deal with things isn't working, so maybe a big change would be a good idea. Only you can make that change though.
From one internet stranger to another: You've got this, and you are so much stronger than you are currently realising!
oh my God my life has been changed