Category: Sport
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Why this trans athlete is no Laurel Hubbard
Unlike the New Zealand weightlifter, Quinn is a biological female
The International Olympic Committee medical director seems to think so
Canadian archer Stephanie Barrett is making her Olympic debut aged 42 having only taken up the sport four years ago, but all the fawning articles charting her meteoric rise fail to mention that Barrett was born male.
Laurel Hubbard, born male, is competing in women’s weightlifting. Hubbard may be classified female, but retains many of the the advantages of a male body. The key is testosterone, not just now, but in the past.
Caitlyn Jenner – gold medallist in the men’s decathlon at the 1976 Montreal Olympics – is now in the running to the be the next governor of California.
These days, Jenner is more famous for marrying into the Kardashians before a very public transition in 2015. ‘Call me Caitlyn,’ screamed the headlines at the time.
2020 will, of course, be remembered as the year in which Covid-19 was unleashed on the world. But it is one in which another menace – gender identity ideology – was put firmly in its place, in the UK at least.
Friday’s announcement that biological males should not play women’s rugby may be sound like common sense, but it has already provoked a furore. The new guidelines published by World Rugby, organisers of the Rugby World Cup, apply to the elite and international levels of the game. In their statement they explained,
‘As with many other sports, the physiological differences between males and females necessitate dedicated men’s and women’s contact rugby categories for safety and performance reasons. Given the best available evidence for the effects of testosterone reduction on these physical attributes for transgender women, it was concluded that safety and fairness cannot presently be assured for women competing against trans women in contact rugby.’
“‘People who menstruate.’ I’m sure there used to be a word for those people.” With those words, JK Rowling threw herself into perhaps the most febrile debate in contemporary society. Even Covid-19 has not dampened the furore over transgender rights. As two world views collide, fundamental truths that previous generations thought were self-evident have been cast into doubt. What is a woman? what is a man? and how can we tell them apart?
“‘Personas menstruantes’. Estoy segura de que solía haber un nombre para estas personas”. Con estas palabras, JK Rowling se lanzó al que probablemente es el debate más febril de la sociedad contemporánea. Ni siquiera la covid-19 ha servido para atemperar el furor en torno al debate sobre los derechos de las personas transgénero. Conforme dos visiones del mundo colisionaban, algunas verdades fundamentales que generaciones anteriores consideraban indiscutibles han empezado a ponerse en duda. ¿Qué es una mujer? ¿Qué es un hombre? ¿Cómo podemos diferenciarlos?
