[Other Sport] Transgender woman selected for NZ Olympic team

[The Clamp]

As with any shift in attitude or social adjustments, there is a level of bullshit somewhere along the line. This is it.

 

[Postman Pat]

There’s always been a small number of very confused people sexually. I remember the early 90’s some of the duds hanging round Times Square at night ..even then it was hard to tell who was male and who was female sometimes .

The difference in 2021 is mainly social media has given terms like Binary a much higher profile . You have so called celebrities like Sam Smith ( who is apparently a singer although sounds like a cat being strangled to me ) using his binary status as something to be proud of . I’m not sure about that , I think for me it’s more I feel sad for him and people like him that clearly have ‘issues ‘ going on inside their head .

I have no issue with Sam Smith, or anyone else for that matter, calling themself whatever they feel comfortable, if they do not feel like they fit within a gender then no problem. If it also means we stop separating awards for best male singer/actor best female etc.. and just have best person then so be it, I do not feel that is doing anyone any harm.

But if we are going to see more scenes like this I think its a problem:

 

[Gwylan]

I can imagine in a sport like rugby involving physical contact things could get quite nasty.

I can see things from the other side. I had a daughter who was rather good at rugby: she played for a boys team that won the Sussex championship (and she was selected in preference to boys) and when she turned 12 she joined a girls team and subsequently played for the county. At 16, however, she announced that he was now a he and no longer wished to be associated with female sport.

Although he still loved rugby, he no longer felt safe playing it as he couldn't compete with males of the same age - he was a slightly-built girl, he's dwarfed by male rugby players. I really feel for him as he's now de facto barred from the sport he loves. But, for that reason, I can't see why we should bar transgender women from sports (not de facto, but de jure) - we're talking about a very, very small percentage of people.

 

[rippleman]

I am struggling to illustrate what I am about to write with clarity

Not in my book nick. You didn't struggle at all. You set out your position with extreme clarity and I endorse just about everything you have said.

I am an advocate of Trans rights; I believe Trans people should have the same rights and opportunities in life as everybody else on the planet. But this does present an issue for me. For reasons nick explains so well, a CIS male will always have an advantage over a CIS female; it's just the way it is. A woman would never beat Usain Bolt over 100m. Katie Taylor (IMO the best female boxer on the planet) will never beat the mens world lightweight champion. It is what it is.

I think, long term, the only solution would be to have a Transolympics where male to female and female to male athletes can compete on a level playing field.

I feel for the athlete displaced by the trans athlete and for her competitors. There's a danger that female athletes will just think "what's the bloody point?"

On balance, I think the IOC have got this one badly wrong.