Should A Bloke Be Allowed In Womens Cycle Races?

[ToraToraTora]

https://news.sky.com/story/trans-cyclist-rachel-mckinnon-defends-her-right-to-race-in-womens-competitions-11838131
...so here's another sport about to be sacrificed on the TROB altar. Is this sort of thing the beginning of the end for women's sport? In the end we'll have men's sport and men that are not quite good enough at men's sport, sport!

[Khandro]

Either follow sqad's formula, or instead of this tiny minority of people tipping their personal problems onto the vast majority of sports - men & women, - & particularly ruining women's sport altogether in the process.
Why not have a 'transgender' category so they can compete fairly & squarely with one another ?

[ToraToraTora]

roadman: "if she is trans then is she a bloke is a better question " - no it's not in doubt you cannot change sex.

[Khandro]

douglas, I was thinking of including that observation but didn't quite have the bottle :0)

[ToraToraTora]

tigger: "Has there ever been a case where a trans person entering a women's competition hasn't won where strength and speed are required? " - that kiwi weight lifter bloke didn't win in the Olympics.

[douglas9401]

Not a disability then.

[ToraToraTora]

khandro: "Why not have a 'transgender' category so they can compete fairly & squarely with one another ? " - too complex you'd have to have at least 2 new categories and probably more as more variations emerge. If you have a Y chromosome you compete with the men. Simples!

[roadman]

ToraToraTora what do you mean there are many people who have changed sex with surgery and hormones which are chemicals u know

[ToraToraTora]

not really roadman they still have their original chromosome configuration.

[mushroom25]

not just cycling - Lia Thomas switched from male to female competitions and went from 462nd to 1st.
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/transgender-swimmer-lia-thomas-ban-26139200
records are being beaten out of sight. reading between the lines, support for this person to compete as their declared gender is being demanded by the authorities, on threat of disqualification for speaking out.

[Arksided]

I agree with Sqad (BA) it really shouldn’t be that complicated no matter of life choices.

[sp1814]

Yep - she should.

Best of luck to her.

[tomus42]

They either need to get rid of separate mens and womens events and just have people's events (which no-one born a woman would have much chance of winning), or have an objective method of differentiating based on chromosomes.

It's daft for things to continue like this.

[Deskdiary]

The Lia Thomas farce neatly crystallises the problem for me.

462nd as a man and 1st as a ‘woman’.

Surely even the most achingly right-on must agree it is farcical and unfair on women who train and train to be the best they can only to be cheated by somebody who at best was average when competing against men.

I’m with Navratilova (who will probably be described as a TERF), Jenner (who can’t be described as such) and many others who feel biological sex should be the only criteria. It is, after all, immutable.

[New Judge]

//ToraToraTora what do you mean there are many people who have changed sex with surgery and hormones//

They are very, very few in number. People who don't like the sex they were born with and wish to change their gender (now an an almost meaningless term) should be perfectly free to do so. They should not be entitled to muscle in (pun intended) to women's sport. It's very unfortunate if their lifestyle choice leaves them out in the cold, but life's tough sometimes. Insensitive? I don't think so; it's simply the truth (which seems almost impossible to bear for some people but they should learn to live with it). Far more insensitive is throwing women competitors to the wolves when their sport is invaded by men.

[DTCwordfan]

As Khandro says - just create another sex as they do in India, Indonesia, Samoa, and through the Pacific Islands. After all, they manage more than three groups in many paralympic sports.

Just one thought though, being on oestrogen can have a dramatic effect on weakening muscles and hence power - little impact on the skeleton though.

[douglas9401]

You could probably reinstate my deleted comment now.

[Khandro]

No chance Doug !! :0)

The only problem with sqad's solution is, how do you test a man's chromosomes when he rolls up at an amateur cycling event & pretends he is female?

[naomi24]

SP, why? These people are not women. They’re men pretending to be women.

[Togo]

Meanwhile in a universe not so far far away a girl accuses the school, that she attends, of racism, sexual harrasment, and transphobia. Cast a wide net and all that hey? Anna De Garris(nice Scottish name) of Pakistani heritage and a fifth-year student at Crieff High School, Perthshire, conducted a survey of 100 pupils which suggested discrimination and bullying was “rife” at the institution. The me deah is your friend if you need the 5 minutes of fame. I though the First Miniature had banned all this as well. Tut.