Postman Pat
Well-known member
I hope this conversation can stay sensible without ending up in the Bear Pit, but as its sport related I think its a relevant conversation here.
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New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard has become the first ever transgender athlete picked to compete at an Olympics, in a controversial decision.
Officials have selected her for the women's weightlifting team for Tokyo 2020, after qualifying requirements were recently modified.
She had competed in men's events before coming out as transgender in 2013.
Critics say Hubbard has an unfair advantage, but others have argued for more inclusion at the Games.
She will compete in the women's 87-kg weightlifting category.
The 43-year-old became eligible to compete at the Olympics when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2015 changed its rules allowing transgender athletes to compete as a woman if their testosterone levels are below a certain threshold.
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I don't have any strong feeling on transgender rights in most areas as the majority of issues don't really impact me. I understand why some non-trans Women do not want to share changing rooms etc.. with transitioning females
Sport is an area however where I do feel that this isn't fair, someone who was born Male and transitioned to Female no doubt has a physical advantage over non-trans athletes. In the above instance Hubbard has competed as a male and I am therefore uncomfortable that she can take a place from a non-trans female in the squad and could win a medal too over a non-trans athlete. I appreciate she meets the criteria to compete, but I would have thought her original biology will give her an advantage here. I wouldn't anticipate many 43 year old females being able to compete at that level under usual circumstances.
NZ are only sending one athlete in this category and the person who missed out for her will probably never get the chance to compete at an Olympics.
By the same token I wouldn't want to see a transgender male competing in some physical/contact sports against non-trans males, as for many the biology would give them a big disadvantage, and could be potentially dangerous.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, providing a trans-gender specific competition in the same way as a Paralympics would strike me as demeaning to trans athletes, but I don't see how we can get fair competition in the current set-up
I do think we have to be careful not to overlook the rights on non-trans people when trying to promote the rights of transgender people, it can't all be a one-way street.
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New Zealand's Laurel Hubbard has become the first ever transgender athlete picked to compete at an Olympics, in a controversial decision.
Officials have selected her for the women's weightlifting team for Tokyo 2020, after qualifying requirements were recently modified.
She had competed in men's events before coming out as transgender in 2013.
Critics say Hubbard has an unfair advantage, but others have argued for more inclusion at the Games.
She will compete in the women's 87-kg weightlifting category.
The 43-year-old became eligible to compete at the Olympics when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2015 changed its rules allowing transgender athletes to compete as a woman if their testosterone levels are below a certain threshold.
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I don't have any strong feeling on transgender rights in most areas as the majority of issues don't really impact me. I understand why some non-trans Women do not want to share changing rooms etc.. with transitioning females
Sport is an area however where I do feel that this isn't fair, someone who was born Male and transitioned to Female no doubt has a physical advantage over non-trans athletes. In the above instance Hubbard has competed as a male and I am therefore uncomfortable that she can take a place from a non-trans female in the squad and could win a medal too over a non-trans athlete. I appreciate she meets the criteria to compete, but I would have thought her original biology will give her an advantage here. I wouldn't anticipate many 43 year old females being able to compete at that level under usual circumstances.
NZ are only sending one athlete in this category and the person who missed out for her will probably never get the chance to compete at an Olympics.
By the same token I wouldn't want to see a transgender male competing in some physical/contact sports against non-trans males, as for many the biology would give them a big disadvantage, and could be potentially dangerous.
I'm not sure what the answer is here, providing a trans-gender specific competition in the same way as a Paralympics would strike me as demeaning to trans athletes, but I don't see how we can get fair competition in the current set-up
I do think we have to be careful not to overlook the rights on non-trans people when trying to promote the rights of transgender people, it can't all be a one-way street.
