Fri, 08:37: The most awkward and potentially heated topic to come up at the family Thanksgiving yesterday was ... trans women in sports.
The argument of it being "unfair" was posed, and I launchd right into shutting that down—until, within moments, the very conversation was shut down, for being "too close to politics or religion." But, this is something I cannot let go. It could not be more relevant that the people making these arguments have no openly trans people close to them in their lives.
I have had several people in my life tell me at one time or another in recent years, something that ran the spectrum between "I don't know if I agree with that," and "I don't understand it." None of them have ever indicated that they ever went out of their way to learn directly from trans people themselves, or from actual medical research. Not one. And that includes people in science or medical fields. And with respect, this perspective exists in the space between ignorance and bigotry, and it only clears the runway for the horrifically anti-trans policies sure to come from the incoming administration.
There are two key sources that should prove helpful to those open minded enough to look into them—and frankly, if you can't be bothered, then I have no respect for your opinion on the matter.
Trans people themselves: consider a look at the Advocates for Trans Equality website's page about trans athletes in sports, which underscores how far more harmful policing people's bodies—and especially those of youth—is than simply having a trans person on a team could ever be to their teammates (which is to say, fundamentally, not at all): https://transequality.org/issues/sports. There are plenty of other online resources by trans people themselves that corroborate these arguments.
Scientific research: Reasonable people, I suppose, could have debates about what's the most *effective* argument for allowing trans athletes to play on teams aligned with their gender identity. Personally, I fall on the side of science, because it's possibly the most common "argument" attempted to use against it—usually in bad faith, using unreputable sources with bad methodologies. An in-depth review of ten years of scientific literature on trans women in sports in 2021 found no clear correlation between hormone levels and athletic performance or competitive advantage. Far more logically, factors like nutrition, training, and access to equipment are much greater factors in competitive advantage, regardless of gender or gender identity. https://www.athleteally.org/.../CCES_Transgender-Women...
Admittedly, it's not hard to find sources that claim studies showing some minor "advantage" or another by, specifically trans women in sports. None of these place a far more reasonable emphasis on the fact that there are many cisgender women with significantly greater strength, agility, etc than average women athletes (hence the aforementioned review findings), and—so far at least—they aren't getting banned from playing sports with other women. It only logically follows that trans women should not be either.
Fri, 21:39: At the Lighting of the Tree Ceremony tonight at Westlake Center, Mayor Bruce Harrell called Seattle "one of the greatest cities in the country," which to me smacked of a bit of an inferiority complex. I mean, shit, recently elected Representative Sarah McBride referred to her state as "the greatest state in the union," and she's from DELAWARE. Come on, Bruce! Why not call Seattle *the* greatest city in America? Because it is! https://t.co/5iEbqfDgAq
