Most people have knee-jerk reactions to this situation but to be honest my opinion changed after reading Brooke Forde's statement on the situation. Forde most likely will be competing against Thomas at the upcoming NCAA championships.
I wrote this post a while ago mostly in jest. But now I can really see the situation devolving from people suggesting having a Men's Division, Women's Division and a Trans Division to just having a Swim Team with the best times and athletes competing.
The road to hell is paved with good politically correct intentions.
So how did your opinion change after reading Forde's statement? The part about "treating people with respect and dignity [being] more important than any trophy"? I could buy into that idea, but then I read that Thomas likes to display "her" male equipment in the girls' locker room and has been known to get an erection when "her" teammates undress. Not very respectful or dignified, I'd say. Forde may be "fine with it" but some of the other women swimmers clearly aren't (although they don't dare say so on the record).
ReplyDeleteI remember that there was some controversy when Title IX was passed mandating that collegiate women's sports be equal to men's. One effect of the legislation was that many schools had to eliminate some men's sports and athletic scholarships because they didn't have the budget to support them and a host of new women's teams. Now the wheel has turned and we will see girls who devoted their lives through high school to be the best at their sport being denied college athletic scholarships by males in skirts who have innate physical advantages.
I think there's only one solution, so long as our society and institutions wish to proclaim that girls can have penises: eliminate "men's" and "women's" sports categories altogether. Call them "XX" and "XY" sports and require a chromosome test to determine which an athlete is assigned to. Lia, who is genetically male, can call "herself" anything "she" wants to, but would be required to compete with other males.
I haven't heard anything about the locker room stuff.
ReplyDeleteNCAA Staff and Distaff Swimming Championships? I would agree with that. If a person was serious enough to have their penis surgically removed - that should be enough proof they're serious enough to compete for the Distaff championships