I Had A Feeling This Would Happen...

[steviedresses]

I am pro-trans. If someone is born into the wrong body and they need to transition than I support them 100 %.

But, genetic males, should never be allowed to compete with genetic females. Men are 40% muscle, women are 30% muscle. Men have larger bone structures, and greater lung capacity. I am not being sexist. These are just facts.

Now are there some women who can compete with the men? Absolutely. But overall the average male has greater strength and endurance than the average female.

When I was in high school I ran a 12 minute two mile and was just an average runner. If I was female and running that time, I'm competing at State and getting scholarship offers.

So a MTF athlete still has the underlying male physiology and no amount of hormones is going to change it. I'm sorry MTF athletes, but you have to compete with the boys.

On a similar thought, what if a FTM wrestler wanted to compete with the girls? Talk about an unfair advantage.

[filghy2]

So a MTF athlete still has the underlying male physiology and no amount of hormones is going to change it. I'm sorry MTF athletes, but you have to compete with the boys.

I understand what you are saying, but I'm not sure it's feasible for them to compete with boys in most sports either. I'm not an expert, but I assume that the effect of taking female hormones is to reduce strength. There are also the psychological difficulties of competing in an environment that may be fairly hostile. Many sports have struggled with accepting players who are openly gay - and transsexuals don't have the option of keeping their status secret.

I don't really have a satisfactory solution to the dilemma. Maybe there needs to be separate transgender competitions, but those are likely to be quite limited for the foreseeable future. It may be an unfortunate reality that transgender athletes cannot pursue a sporting career.

[steviedresses]

It may be an unfortunate reality that transgender athletes cannot pursue a sporting career.

Yes Filghy2, they do not get to compete. It is sad but true. Aside from the obvious social problems, MTF athletes will just have too big of an advantage over GGs.

I watched the IAAF world championships last week. They had a wonderful 'mixed' 4 x 400 relay. Two men, two women. All the teams ran MWWM, except for the Japanese. They ran WMMW.

The race was an eye opener at just how much faster the men are than the women. These ladies are running 50-51 second 400 meters. The guys are running 45 seconds.

If you can find it on-line watch it. Japan is way behind after the first 400 because a lady is running against the men. Then Japan's men run the next two 400's... and get a BIG lead. So the 4th Japanese runner starts with a 20 meter lead (or something like that) and the men run her down on the back straight. Japan finishes dead last.

Japan would have finished dead last anyway running MWWM. But the race was eye-opening about how much faster the men are.

And mind you this lady is a world class 400 meter runner.

[blackchubby38]

I understand what you are saying, but I'm not sure it's feasible for them to compete with boys in most sports either. I'm not an expert, but I assume that the effect of taking female hormones is to reduce strength. There are also the psychological difficulties of competing in an environment that may be fairly hostile. Many sports have struggled with accepting players who are openly gay - and transsexuals don't have the option of keeping their status secret.

I don't really have a satisfactory solution to the dilemma. Maybe there needs to be separate transgender competitions, but those are likely to be quite limited for the foreseeable future. It may be an unfortunate reality that transgender athletes cannot pursue a sporting career.

We have had this discussion before. So I'm going to bring back a post that I made when the discussion was the FTM transgendered wrestler Mack Beggs.

When this story was first posted, I wanted to wait a couple of days to gather my thoughts about it. Its one of those stories that is going to cause a reaction no matter what side of the aisle a person sits on and I think its one of those situations where nuance is needed.

First, should the University Interscholastic League adopt a new rule that allows transgendered people to compete against the gender that isn't listed on their birth certificate?- Yes. I think they should come up with something similar to the NCAA's rules:

"trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing that team status to a mixed team".

"trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment".

This way you're being fair to the transgendered person and you're preserving the the integrity of women’s sports.


Second, I think it is fair to question whether or not Mack has an unfair advantage over his female opponents due to the testosterone injections he is receiving. It would be interesting to see what his record was before he started transitioning. From the two articles that I read, I haven't seen it mentioned.

Third, I think you can have empathy for Mack's situation. But at same time, think it isn't right that he is competing against female wrestlers. Especially when you consider that he is going to get the chance to compete against other boys on the national level. A decision that was reached last year. So its also fair to wonder if he should have competed in this year's state tournament.

Finally, I'm all for people following their dreams. I also understand that starting the transitioning process is an important step in a transgendered person's life. But sometimes in life people have prioritize what's most important to them. So I think its fair to ask whether Mack should have either waited to begin transitioning until he was done competing at the high school level or stopped competing altogether while he was doing so.

[MrFanti]

News from the USA Powerlifting Organization
https://www.newsweek.com/usa-powerli...peting-1316259

USA POWERLIFTING ORGANIZATION BANS TRANSGENDER WOMEN FROM COMPETING

Looks like 100% of the debate is about Transwomen and not Transmen.....