Why are competitive advantages a problem for trans women but not for anyone else? Breanna Stewart (a cis woman) has a wingspan longer than most men taller than her, let alone the women she plays against. Is that unfair? Should we ban her from the WNBA? What about entire groups of people that have biological traits that give them a competitive advantage in certain sports over the rest of world? For example Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes from certain tribes that dominate long distance running in part because of biological advantages. Should we ban them?
And despite the physical advantages they might have, there is little evidence that trans women have some systemic advantage over cis women in sports results. This is a culture war issue fanned by right wing transphobes who hyper focus on a handful of absolute tiny trans women who have done well (out of an already small pool of trans athletes). And the result is that it also negatively harms cis women such as Caster Semenya, Imane Khelif, or even Serena Williams.
Why are competitive advantages a problem for trans women but not for anyone else? Breanna Stewart (a cis woman) has a wingspan longer than most men taller than her, let alone the women she plays against. Is that unfair? Should we ban her from the WNBA? What about entire groups of people that have biological traits that give them a competitive advantage in certain sports over the rest of world? For example Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes from certain tribes that dominate long distance running in part because of biological advantages. Should we ban them?
And despite the physical advantages they might have, there is little evidence that trans women have some systemic advantage over cis women in sports results. This is a culture war issue fanned by right wing transphobes who hyper focus on a handful of absolute tiny trans women who have done well (out of an already small pool of trans athletes). And the result is that it also negatively harms cis women such as Caster Semenya, Imane Khelif, or even Serena Williams.