No sane person has a problem with ensuring that womens sports contains biological women throughout
Au contraire. Because of HRT, a trans woman would generally have less testosterone than a cis woman. Some of the top-performing cis female athletes would be disqualified by rules based on hiring hormone levels. And puberty-related changes that would prove advantageous can be avoided with puberty -blockers until fully transitioning as an adult with full HRT. And even then the trans female adolescent is at a hormonal disadvantage during that age range.
So FEW trans people actually compete in sports to the level where this even matters. The fact that it even causes the general public to question the results of the sport is enough to not allow it. The whole spirit of competition is that people are playing on equal ground - and if it causes the public to question that equality, then it destroys the entire purpose. Sure, I hope that the public become more accepting of trans individuals over time, and that more studies are released that show they gain no advantage, but HRT is a rather new thing in human history. It’s us toying with nature, and just like genetic engineering - should be disallowed in competition. If India found some new goal in CRISPR to edit the human genome for gain in sport, and they entered the Olympics, everyone would frown upon it. Not because of sex, but because of tampering with the human body. The stated goal of all sports is competition and recognition of the most fit in our species. Modifying the human body is counter to the spirit of it.
Au contraire. Because of HRT, a trans woman would generally have less testosterone than a cis woman. Some of the top-performing cis female athletes would be disqualified by rules based on
hiringhormone levels. And puberty-related changes that would prove advantageous can be avoided with puberty -blockers until fully transitioning as an adult with full HRT. And even then the trans female adolescent is at a hormonal disadvantage during that age range.So FEW trans people actually compete in sports to the level where this even matters. The fact that it even causes the general public to question the results of the sport is enough to not allow it. The whole spirit of competition is that people are playing on equal ground - and if it causes the public to question that equality, then it destroys the entire purpose. Sure, I hope that the public become more accepting of trans individuals over time, and that more studies are released that show they gain no advantage, but HRT is a rather new thing in human history. It’s us toying with nature, and just like genetic engineering - should be disallowed in competition. If India found some new goal in CRISPR to edit the human genome for gain in sport, and they entered the Olympics, everyone would frown upon it. Not because of sex, but because of tampering with the human body. The stated goal of all sports is competition and recognition of the most fit in our species. Modifying the human body is counter to the spirit of it.