transgender people and sports
in a thread earlier something was mentioned about transgender people and how it might be used for someone of the opposite sex to compete for a women or a men's competition, by @tiesandbowties and I just realized its a good point. what does that mean will happen to the olympics? is it even legal for a guy to change sexes and compete as a girl or for a girl to change sexes and compete as a guy? should they make a whole new gender category for athletic competitions? it could be unfair if it was allowed but technically transgender people do have rights just as everyone else.
this may be old news but ive never heard about it so what are your guy's opinion on this?
June 15, 2015
11 Comments • Newest first
I would not approve of transgender people to join gender-specific Olympic games.
I think it's more about the hypocritical nature of many people advocating for transgender people. A female athlete may advocate for transgender peoples on social media but in practice, would they realistically give up their spot on the podium for a male who recently turned into a female? For example, the United States women's national soccer team were all giving praise to Caitlyn Jenner but I doubt any of them would give up their roster spot for a transgender women.
Imagine if a decent male soccer player recently received a sex change and decided to play for the U.S. women's national soccer team. I'm not sure how most players on the squad would take it.
It's a very fine line.
I don't have the link to the article I read, but recalling from memory the peoples in charge of the Olympics require a transgender person to have been on hormone therapy a minimum of 2 years and have genital reassignment surgery for them to be allowed to compete as their new sex. They test people's blood for hormone levels before they're allowed to compete, thats actually how many athletes end up learning that they are intersex.
[quote=rixworkwix]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Futurama_ep67.jpg[/quote]
I mean, if bender can do it.
There's a difference between gender and sex, so a MTF transgender woman would still participate on the men's team and vice versa, I think... unless someone has seen anything different.
[quote=WontPostMuch]That's a pretty dumb point though. For one, people who are transgender undergo hormone treatment so we can just say that until this hormone treatment is undergone, the possibility of entering as a female (or male) cannot occur. Secondly, who on earth would undergo such measures for a possible edge over competition? We don't even know if just because someone was born male they'll be able to outperform those who are cisgendered. Point being, this is such a minor worry it's like...who cares?[/quote]
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Futurama_ep67.jpg
[quote=Davyn]You can "identify" as whatever the hell you want to be, but until you cut off your wanger or get one in place, then you're whatever goddamn gender you were born with.[/quote]
Sex and gender are two entirely different things. You don't develop social stigmas while in the womb.
As for the thread, the segregation would have to remain in place regardless of aesthetic changes beyond genetic presets for the sake of sportsmanship. Having a sex change doesn't change the physical niches which come with said presets.
Either that, or they could rework the divisions into a unisex weight-segregated system, which would be the next best thing.
You can "identify" as whatever the hell you want to be, but until you cut off your wanger or get one in place, then you're whatever goddamn gender you were born with.
Just have them compete with the same sex.
Ex. if you were born with a penor, you will compete with others who have/were born with a penor
That's a pretty dumb point though. For one, people who are transgender undergo hormone treatment so we can just say that until this hormone treatment is undergone, the possibility of entering as a female (or male) cannot occur. Secondly, who on earth would undergo such measures for a possible edge over competition? We don't even know if just because someone was born male they'll be able to outperform those who are cisgendered. Point being, this is such a minor worry it's like...who cares?
I feel like this has to actually happen before any official ruling is made on it, but it makes me wonder how far people are willing to go for that competitive edge.