Transgender Athletes

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The_Saint Jun 2022 11:44am, 23 Jun 2022 6,959 posts	0 The_Saint I think we are verging into arguments that no longer apply or are of the type of "Bad people did X, therefore anyone proposing anything I am deciding is like X is bad".
fetcheveryone Jul 2022 12:57pm, 6 Jul 2022 27,915 posts	0 fetcheveryone BBC just posted this from British Triathlon - new 'open' category, preserving the female category "for those who are female sex at birth": bbc.co.uk
Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs) Jul 2022 1:05pm, 6 Jul 2022 33,889 posts	0 Mrs Jigs (Luverlylegs) Excellent news!
RooA Jul 2022 1:15pm, 6 Jul 2022 1,903 posts	0 RooA Well done British Triathlon. I hope others follow suit.
hellywobs Jul 2022 1:25pm, 6 Jul 2022 104 posts	0 hellywobs I think that parkrun is primarily a social good where I don't see any real safety issues and inclusion outweighs fairness broadly speaking (it's not even a race!). I think that some flavour of self-identification is pretty much inevitable there. Parkrun HQ can ask for specific limitations if they want but can't police them anyway True. There is at least one parkrun where the female course record is held by a transwoman though, and it must be annoying for the next fastest woman - at the pointy end of parkrun, these things do matter! At least the runner concerned has said she would never run in an elite race unless there was a non-binary category (she was a good male runner, and is now an extremely good female runner, though wouldn't challenge Paula Radcliffe in her prime). I agree with British Triathlon's policy, it seems the fairest approach to me and doesn't exclude anyone, while protecting the biological female category.
auburnette Feb 2023 3:13pm, 3 Feb 2023 2,043 posts	0 auburnette Thankyou UKA for this clear-eyed explanation of the issues. theguardian.com And especially for this: "The category of “women’s athletics” arose as a way of enabling the inclusion of women in athletics. Women who wished to compete in athletics could not do so fairly with men, because of the physical advantages men enjoy due to their (male) biological sex. Therefore, the decision was made to create a separate, sex-based category in which people of the female sex could fairly compete against one another. The category of women’s sport arose not as a response to women’s social role or personal gender identity, but to ensure fair competition amongst female athletes by eliminating the advantages enjoyed by male athletes on account of their sex." UKA's position is consistent with the recent Haldane judgement on the effect of a GRC. This is one of the reasons why there is currently a petition to clarify that references to "sex" are references to biological sex rather than legal sex. petition.parliament.uk
larkim Feb 2023 3:35pm, 3 Feb 2023 20,129 posts	0 larkim Thought the UKA doc was very clear; a model of summarily covering the issue's key challenges. Really interesting to see their summary of the difficulties of the two pieces of legislation too. A move to "open" and "female" categories feels like the right balanced answer, though I fully expect disagreement will continue.
paulcook Feb 2023 3:37pm, 3 Feb 2023 2,281 posts	0 paulcook Agree larkim. Can't help but feel this will potentially end up in court at some point unless further clarity reached.
RooA Feb 2023 3:46pm, 3 Feb 2023 2,104 posts	0 RooA That was my favourite paragraph too, auburnette. The laws around this need serious clarification now. Starting with the definition of "sex" in the EA, as per the petition from Sex Matters. I'm glad to see UKA acknowledge this and not shirk around or advocate a fudge.
larkim Feb 2023 4:13pm, 3 Feb 2023 20,130 posts	0 larkim I still struggle with the concept that I might have a son who transitions and who finds themselves in a position where to all intents and purposes they appear and behave "female", have legal recognition via a GRC etc, cause zero concern to women in private spaces, demonstrate none of the male traits that cause women to fear men etc and yet when they turn up to a local athletics meeting they have no choice to run in the women's races. But I have to agree that putting their rights ahead of all of the other women they might race against is objectively unfair and must be prevented.