Transgender athletes back on the agenda

[pietillidie]

I wasn't looking for it and haven't read it, but this is a longish piece on the subject from Bloomberg for those so inclined. David will appreciate their sub-title!

[think positive]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-18/lexi-rodgers-denied-nbl1-kilsyth-cobras-basketball-australia/102235060

Common sense prevails.

I was watching the morning show and an Olympic swimmer, Kate was on. She put it well. Having gone through male puberty the trans person already has the advantages that can’t be taken away, increased lung and heart capacity for a start. That’s not just a huge advantage in swimming.

[stui magpie]

I read that. Interesting that Basketball Aus applied the criteria for semi elite sports but said they would welcome trans people at community sport level.

2 women on the 3 person panel to make the decision, both well credentialed, decision made I guess. I tend to discount that the other women on the team she wanted to play for were very welcoming, any sports team will always welcome a potential gun new player, don't know how the opposition players were thinking though.

[think positive]

Exactly!

Andrew bogut is correct, women’s sport is for women.

[David]

Probably belongs more in the WTF thread, but anyhow:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-66538328.amp

Would love to hear the reasoning behind this: transgender women are too intelligent!?

Of course it all raises the question of why there are even men’s and women’s chess competitions to begin with.

[stui magpie]

That is strange. I know far call about chess competitions, in the article it says Trans people can still compete in Open competitions, so they must have various things.

Mens and womens tend to operate differently but whether one or the other is inherently better at something like Chess I have NFI. Chess is like Poker to a degree in that it's a game of skill that requires zero strength. Very strange.

[think positive]

yes and no, i guess its a precedent. for me anything that has always been separated by gender, still should be, it stops grey areas.

and no David, transgender women are not too intelligent, chess is more than intelligence, and i believe there are open competitions too, so not sure what the problem is.

reading down its brilliant to see this:
"Meanwhile on Wednesday World Aquatics said it would debut a new open category for transgender athletes at this year's Swimming World Cup event in Berlin after it voted last year to stop transgender athletes from competing in women's elite races."

now how hard was that?

[pietillidie]

Yeah, i saw that chess thing. That's one the transgender panickers should be attacking the other way; i.e., it is registering a difference when none exists for no known reason.