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In the hope of a more sensible discussion, in language we all can understand and grasp,
how do people feel on the issue of Transgender persons taking part in professional and semi professional sport ?
It is becoming more and more common in recent years, largely in America, at college status and higher, that transgender females are dominating certain sports, boxing, kickboxing, martial arts, tennis etc etc
Some sports are not relevant, archery, shooting….. and some involve technique that can overcome pure physical strength,
However a lot are based on physical strength.
While I admire transgender people who have endured god knows what torment, depression, therapies, surgeries etc to finally become the person, as close to what they feel they should be, are more at peace with themselves,I believe having gone
thru so much they should indeed be treated and valued as a female,with rights and respect. However, I also feel for the youngsters who have dedicated their lives to becoming the best they can be at the sport they passionately love, going without the normal teenage stuff, parties, trips etc, getting up 3 hours before their classmates,to train for years on end, striving and striving to be the best they can be at what they love, then to be overtaken in a matter of weeks by a lady who used to be a man .Life is unfair! Which is why I personally don’t believe in ‘god’, but that’s another matter We have all one way or another agreed that gender dysphoria is an illness, be it physical or mental……Many people are born
with disabilities, be it diabetes, blindness, deafness, autism, Dwarfism, the list is endless, OR people can contract illnesses… cancer, Leukaemia, MRSA, meningitis, loosing limbs, etc
As a society we should do all we can to help and enable everyone to be the best person they can be, but should people who have become transgender male to female be able to go one step further and dominate some women’s sporting lives and careers. There is a reason a blind man cannot compete in, say, tennis against a non blind man, yes I know, a ridiculous statement, but thats the point ? surely its about level playing fields ? Its why we have the Paralympics, BRILLIANT in my opinion, the competitors are no less a person, they are just doing what they do best and train hard for, from a more level playing field …. I guess my point is , yes life is shit and unfair for many many people and at some point you have to draw a line, what could be better for someone may well be very unfair for many othersIs this the case with transgender females in sport? Is it a level playing field ??
Take the old news about Fallon Fox ( there are hundreds of stories about many people , I’m only choosing this one
because it was the first major story to hit the media ..
Transgender female martial arts fighter, Ex US navy, 5’11” 175 lbs, that part may not be that important however what her
combatant said after did strike me ….
”On Saturday, Fox defeated Tamikka Brents by TKO at 2:17 of the first round of their match. In addition to the damaged
orbital bone that required seven staples, Brents received a concussion. In a post-fight interview this week,
she told Whoa TV that “I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life.”“I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night.
I can’t answer whether it’s because [he] was born a man or not, because I’m not a doctor,” she stated. “I can only say,
I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life, and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right. ”His “grip was different,” she added. “I could usually move around in the clinch against…females but couldn’t move at all
in Fox’s clinch.”
So,what do we think ?
Should someone who was once a man, and may well have lived as a man for many years , had male hormones for many years fathering children ( and possibly/ more than likely been living a troubled life, I realise ) be able to compete in sport against women were physical strength definitely plays a part in the result ?
I realise those who aren’t ‘interested ‘ in sport will not be interested in this subject and therefore politely ask that they refrain from deliberate waffling just to be heard, thanks3 members liked this post.
Interesting question.
My initial answer is to jump in and say it wouldn’t seem fair for a:
Born male body
Developed male body
Generally stronger than female body
Different reactions and functions original male body
because all of the above are generally superior to a woman’s body.
I have no knowledge or expertise on this topic, so don’t know the full extent a mans body would lose any of the above after hormones treatment, or to what extent they lose any of the above. Based on that alone I don’t think its fair in competition.
On the flip side, we have super strong athletes like Serena Williams ( I can only think of one right now), who train as hard as any man especially in her field, and by all accounts can play against the best of the men on a very even level. So woman can be as strong as men, though we all know its not common and probably most women cannot achieve the level of Serena Williams athletic body.
Another view is, if we don’t accept a transgender man who is now a woman in this instance a sport, we are not accepting this person for who they are NOW. Which is wrong. That person is now a woman and should be able to live their life and choose their career or hobbies as their new sexual preference, otherwise they will continue to suffer throughout their lives. The whole point of finally going through the change was probably to end their suffering and or them to live their life like every other person around them.
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Yep I totally see your point , I wouldn’t agree men’s bodies are superior though, stronger maybe but not superior. My point about gender dysphoria though is shouldn’t it be treated on an equal with people with other disabilities who aren’t allowed to follow their chosen career ? Just because they technically ‘can’ do it, doesn’t make it right or fair on the people who train hard and long for many years, they and there families making sacrifices in order to fund training etc. Yes transgender people should be totally accepted , enabled and respected on a social level, but a career in sport is different in my opinion. Serena Williams is probably the only one you can think of as she is the only one, and while she can give top male tennis players a run she rarely beats them. Drugs to enhance strength and speed are banned, such as testosterone ? Why is someone who had testosterone rampaging around their body all thru puberty while developing and onwards for over 30 years ( in Fox’s case ) be allowed ? It MUST make a difference or these transgender ladies who now decide to become sportswomen , having never done it before, wouldn’t suddenly start winning everything out of the blue ? There are a lot of articles on it now for anyone to read .
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I am still not fully aware what my views are on this subject overall but I am sure transgender females who were born male will on average have an unfair advantage over females who were born female from a physiological viewpoint. Especially when it comes to the top level elite and semi-professional contact sport Moose states. I think females who have not undergone full transition and still have a penis should not be able to compete against other females at elite level full stop.
As has been said, males do have a measurable physiological advantage over females (on average) bigger muscles, stronger ligaments, more leverage, bigger lungs and increased cardiovascular fitness etc and in explosive contact sports those advantages will make all the difference between winning and losing.
At elite level even a 1% increase can have a dramatic impact, tiny margins, the difference between a gold medal or none. From what I have read previously apparently females making the transition to male do not have the same impact when the roles are reversed and so I am not even sure that hormone replacement levels can guarantee a level playing field. There are complex rules governing even equipment and materials used by athletes in some sports in order to keep the playing field equal.
I honestly have no idea how it should be categorised and I am not sure if transgender could or should be included in the Paralympics because it would require whole new catorgories and a rewrite of the rules to keep it fair but I suppose that would apply to the Olympics as well and as understanding evolves probably a long term solution will be found.
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When ever I am proposed this question..all who ever seem to make a stand up point for me from observation view is Renee Richard’s, Tennis..Billy Jean King… Arthur Ashe think was gay as well.
Any other sport u can provide me with a player. I met Renee Richard’s. Is an eye doctor. My own mom went to for cataract surgery. I recall feet..so large..tall for a female. More so then u see here..and we have tall woman here to, not to say we dont… but an excellent excellent doctor. Great bed side manner..and very caring for patients… know had operations to become female.
I also agree a Male body surgical changes still supports a strong strength and skill..but some woman have as well. Hard to say.
Now Bruce Jenner..changed..wonder if he/she still has the running skills. Long ago…not know when last competed..
A trans woman should not be allowed to take part in female sports they are taking hormones this is just an unfair advantage on the competitor. Taking testosterone does boost strenth. . How is it ok for one person to use testosterone enhancers and the other only uses her hard work and practice? Testosterone hormone should be classified as a performance enhancing drug whether doctor prescribed or not. I’m all for transgender rights. But there are circumstances with it gets difficult to determine what’s right.
Should transpeople have their own sports leagues???
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This reply was modified 6 years ago by
Sophia.
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A trans woman should not be allowed to take part in female sports they are taking hormones this is just an unfair advantage on the competitor. Taking testosterone does boost strenth. . How is it ok for one person to use testosterone enhancers and the other only uses her hard work and practice? Testosterone hormone should be classified as a performance enhancing drug whether doctor prescribed or not. I’m all for transgender rights. But there are circumstances with it gets difficult to determine what’s right.
Using testosterone levels as a critera has a lot of problems, mainly that it would allow men with naturally low testosterone levels to compete in women’s sports. This clearly isn’t what a critera should allow.
Should transpeople have their own sports leagues???
The on;y workable solution is to make sports gender neutral, although this would mean that women would hardly ever compete in the highest levels.
Studies have shown that Black African males naturally have higher Testosterone levels ( in general) than other males, this was found to be the case because they were actually researching prostate cancer, the numbers are higher in Black African males than other males…. It is a very iffy subject testing for certain things as some people have higher levels than others naturally and not because of drugs etc…
Making sports gender neutral isn’t really a workable solution then……
Maybe ‘ The Transgender Games’ is the way to go ?
Although I’m sure even that would throw up ts own set of obstacles…..
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Heres a good story which touches around this point.
Read up on Caster Semenya. Can remember it well.
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This reply was modified 6 years ago by
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