- Joined
- Aug 2, 2021
MtFs have infested women’s sporting divisions like bedbugs in a flophouse. I know this forum has a few threads about some individual MtF athletes, but I didn’t see a thread about the trend in general. Pardon me if one already exists, and I should move my comments over there.
I figured we could bitch about particular athletes who enjoy an unfair advantage because they’re MtF or FtM, post links where you can publicly comment on government or official sports-organization bodies to protest the liberalization of “womens sports” to include men, so that maybe those organizations will see that most people don’t support this at all, or otherwise organize letter-writing campaigns and sit in on public Zoom sessions to show support for women
.
My personal bugbear in regards to this issue is women’s rowing:
US Rowing (the governing body that holds qualifying races for the Olympics, as well as many other events) recently released a “transgender policy” so toothless that basically any athlete can compete as any gender if they sign a form saying they identified as that gender for 3 months prior to the season.
As proposed, US Rowing requires no medical treatment or documentation, and confidentiality is kept (so if you clock an MtF at your race and ask the officials about it, they will say she’s a true and honest woman, just like you.) NCAA, thank god, requires collegiate MtF rowers to have had 24 months of continuous HRT and testosterone below 2.5mol/L to participate, but that leaves high school and, U23 non-collegiate, and adult rowing events basically up for grabs.
Unsurprisingly, men race faster than women. I probably don’t need to go through the physiological advantages here. Not all of these advantages are going to be erased or equalized if they go through HRT later on (e.g. they’ll still be taller, still have more lung capacity.) Even if you transition them from Tanner Stage 2 (i.e. Jazz Jennings style child transition) MtF athletes may enjoy advantages over natal female athletes.
Rowing, like some other sports (e.g. golf, tennis) already has “Open” and “Mixed” divisions for teams who can’t field a boat of all men or all women (open: whatever genders you want, mixed: up to 50% natal females); so opening the women’s races to MtFs makes no sense at all. It’s like letting heavyweight rowers compete in the lightweight races.
Since US Rowing is unwilling to govern gender classification in high school racing, this potentially means transfeminine rowers (MtF) in high school can compete against natal girls; or, that transmasculine rowers (FtMs) can take T and still row with the girls’ team thru high school; and restrictions on hormone therapy would only kick in if you race on an NCAA collegiate team. If there are boys and girls doping T racing against normal, natal girls in high school; then girls lose out on opportunities for rowing scholarships in college.
Example of something you can do about this contagion:
There’s a public comment period open for the next 20 days (so, until Monday May 15 2023) on regulations.gov about the Biden administrations’ “clarification” of Title IX; I posted a comment there and encourage you to do the same if you want to. https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ED-2022-OCR-0143-0001 You can choose to post anonymously or as a named individual. In the drop-down for “category” of your comment, choose “Civil Rights”.
If you choose to comment on this federal policy change, please start your comment by pasting this in:
“I am writing to comment on 34 CFR Part 106 [Docket ID ED-2022-OCR-0143] RIN 1870-AA19 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams, published on April 13, 2023.”
ICONS, which is an activist group dedicated to this issue, has a longer guide on what you might choose to write here. I recommend signing up for their email newsletter if you want to get the skinny on which male athletes are sweeping the podium at women’s competitions; they cover all kinds of sports.
I think women’s sports are important for the psychological and physical benefit of girls and women. Participating on sports teams in school helps girls gain strength and confidence in their own bodies; and for me personally rowing and lifting weights gave me respect for my body and what it can do.
I want that opportunity for my kids. I’d hate to have my own daughter want to compete in middle or high school and get owned by a boy in a tennis skirt on the other side of the court, just because he feels female on the inside.
Disclaimer on my position about trans people:
I’m not against trans rights or seeking to limit the freedom of trans people in any way. I don’t hate trans people, or want to limit their access to care, or otherwise harm them. I believe adults have a right to the pursuit of happiness and to be who they choose, and that teenagers have a right to try and figure out who they are, with certain limitations. I’ll respect anyone’s preferred name and pronouns. I don’t believe trans kids should be banned from playing sports in general, but I’m opposed to them doing so if it confers an unfair advantage. My purpose is to ensure equal rights between all genders and fairness for cis women.
I figured we could bitch about particular athletes who enjoy an unfair advantage because they’re MtF or FtM, post links where you can publicly comment on government or official sports-organization bodies to protest the liberalization of “womens sports” to include men, so that maybe those organizations will see that most people don’t support this at all, or otherwise organize letter-writing campaigns and sit in on public Zoom sessions to show support for women
.My personal bugbear in regards to this issue is women’s rowing:
US Rowing (the governing body that holds qualifying races for the Olympics, as well as many other events) recently released a “transgender policy” so toothless that basically any athlete can compete as any gender if they sign a form saying they identified as that gender for 3 months prior to the season.
As proposed, US Rowing requires no medical treatment or documentation, and confidentiality is kept (so if you clock an MtF at your race and ask the officials about it, they will say she’s a true and honest woman, just like you.) NCAA, thank god, requires collegiate MtF rowers to have had 24 months of continuous HRT and testosterone below 2.5mol/L to participate, but that leaves high school and, U23 non-collegiate, and adult rowing events basically up for grabs.
Unsurprisingly, men race faster than women. I probably don’t need to go through the physiological advantages here. Not all of these advantages are going to be erased or equalized if they go through HRT later on (e.g. they’ll still be taller, still have more lung capacity.) Even if you transition them from Tanner Stage 2 (i.e. Jazz Jennings style child transition) MtF athletes may enjoy advantages over natal female athletes.
Rowing, like some other sports (e.g. golf, tennis) already has “Open” and “Mixed” divisions for teams who can’t field a boat of all men or all women (open: whatever genders you want, mixed: up to 50% natal females); so opening the women’s races to MtFs makes no sense at all. It’s like letting heavyweight rowers compete in the lightweight races.
Since US Rowing is unwilling to govern gender classification in high school racing, this potentially means transfeminine rowers (MtF) in high school can compete against natal girls; or, that transmasculine rowers (FtMs) can take T and still row with the girls’ team thru high school; and restrictions on hormone therapy would only kick in if you race on an NCAA collegiate team. If there are boys and girls doping T racing against normal, natal girls in high school; then girls lose out on opportunities for rowing scholarships in college.
Example of something you can do about this contagion:
There’s a public comment period open for the next 20 days (so, until Monday May 15 2023) on regulations.gov about the Biden administrations’ “clarification” of Title IX; I posted a comment there and encourage you to do the same if you want to. https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/ED-2022-OCR-0143-0001 You can choose to post anonymously or as a named individual. In the drop-down for “category” of your comment, choose “Civil Rights”.
If you choose to comment on this federal policy change, please start your comment by pasting this in:
“I am writing to comment on 34 CFR Part 106 [Docket ID ED-2022-OCR-0143] RIN 1870-AA19 Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams, published on April 13, 2023.”
ICONS, which is an activist group dedicated to this issue, has a longer guide on what you might choose to write here. I recommend signing up for their email newsletter if you want to get the skinny on which male athletes are sweeping the podium at women’s competitions; they cover all kinds of sports.
I think women’s sports are important for the psychological and physical benefit of girls and women. Participating on sports teams in school helps girls gain strength and confidence in their own bodies; and for me personally rowing and lifting weights gave me respect for my body and what it can do.
I want that opportunity for my kids. I’d hate to have my own daughter want to compete in middle or high school and get owned by a boy in a tennis skirt on the other side of the court, just because he feels female on the inside.
Disclaimer on my position about trans people:
I’m not against trans rights or seeking to limit the freedom of trans people in any way. I don’t hate trans people, or want to limit their access to care, or otherwise harm them. I believe adults have a right to the pursuit of happiness and to be who they choose, and that teenagers have a right to try and figure out who they are, with certain limitations. I’ll respect anyone’s preferred name and pronouns. I don’t believe trans kids should be banned from playing sports in general, but I’m opposed to them doing so if it confers an unfair advantage. My purpose is to ensure equal rights between all genders and fairness for cis women.
