RE: That Gay Thread
July 19, 2021 at 4:43 pm
(This post was last modified: July 19, 2021 at 5:11 pm by HappySkeptic.)
(July 19, 2021 at 4:28 pm)Helios Wrote: The only battle is between human rights and ignorant bigotry
No, that's not true.
Yes, the OP is suggesting that "natural" is good, while trans is "unnatural" and therefore not good. That is bigotry, but there is a real question about fairness in sport here.
Until the Semenya issue, the natural variation of human beings were celebrated in sport. If someone is a natural super-person, we all want to cheer. But, we know that testosterone is literally a magical "give me better performance" one-stop shop for strength and endurance sports. Semenya is a genetic male, and a hermaphrodite. It is impossible, without testosterone doping, for other women to compete with her, given the same amount of training. So, the sport, decided she had to reduce her testosterone level. Now, there is a question of whether her body can even fully use her higher testosterone. It's a messy issue, and it may change in the future.
As for the trans, they built muscle during a male period in their lives, which they partially retain after transition. Some people consider this unfair. However, various sports can determine how long it takes for a reduction of testosterone to remove the previous advantages at the highest level of sport (it could be different at lower levels). As long as this is evidence-based and not political, I think it is great to be able to include trans athletes.
