# Connecticut parents angry over trans athlete **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284 "2018-12-17T20:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/81 "2018-12-23T03:38:16Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > Combat sports are where it worries me. … Combat sports can have much more dire consequences. If say Brock Lesnar discovered that he was transgendered and even took hormones for a year, there’s a real non-zero chance that he could end up paralyzing or even killing a woman during a fight. I don’t think I would want to be the official to say that it’s OK in the name of inclusiveness. It’s not just combat sports. It’s basketball, ice hockey, soccer, and the list goes on. When a larger basketball player physically crashes into a smaller player, there are consequences, i.e. injuries. I coached middle school basketball for years and I saw it happen many times. If a biological male with the greater height and larger bones were allowed to run around the courts in a girls’ basketball match, the size imbalance would be larger, leading to a greater risk of more severe injuries. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/82 "2018-12-23T05:27:00Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > What can I say? Facts don’t care about your feelings. 🙂 I wish everyone understood that with regards to biology. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/83 "2018-12-23T06:18:06Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I wish everyone understood that with regards to biology. Are you claiming that your brain is not part of your biology? Are you under the impression that mental states have no objective reality? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2018, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/84 "2018-12-23T08:37:28Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > I wish everyone understood that with regards to biology. Please note that, last I checked, the facts about biology were not on your side here. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/85 "2018-12-25T22:42:02Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Maybe all those people that you don’t wish to see can be shunted off to some side sports channel you wont have to subscribe to-wouldn’t _that_ be convenient. Well yeah. BUT, if YOU want to see trans people do a sport, then you can do so. In the meantime, dont push this trans agenda crap on people. Para Olympians didnt expect regular sports teams to change for them, why should you? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/86 "2018-12-25T22:52:56Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > In the meantime, dont push this trans agenda crap on people. Calm down, even Trump knows how important this is - he has a Secretary of Trans Sport in the cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/87 "2018-12-25T23:31:53Z")
Look at the size of the GUY! He already played for the male Australian Handball team and now he’s playing women’s handball. Six feet 2 inches 220 pounds! In about ten years there won’t be any true women’s teams. The women’s teams will be only made up on transgender men who couldn’t compete in men’s leagues. Another LOSER (this time on a bicycle) stealing first place from women who have worked their ass of training all their lives only to “lose” to a man. [https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus\_thread](https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus_thread) [https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S\_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw](https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw) ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/88 "2018-12-25T23:53:05Z")
> [@Mangosteen](#): > > Look at the size of the GUY! He already played for the male Australian Handball team and now he’s playing women’s handball. Six feet 2 inches 220 pounds! > > In about ten years there won’t be any true women’s teams. The women’s teams will be only made up on transgender men who couldn’t compete in men’s leagues. > > Another LOSER (this time on a bicycle) stealing first place from women who have worked their ass of training all their lives only to “lose” to a man. > > [https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus\_thread](https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus_thread) > [https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S\_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw](https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw) Oh look, another person who didn’t read the articles I cited on the effect HRT has on the physique of athletes. Also, intentionally misgendering people is really shitty. Please don’t do it. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/89 "2018-12-26T00:57:52Z")
Maybe the future of sport is to forget about gender, and create new divisions based on body-type, weight, height, oestrogen or testosterone levels, etc (whatever’s deemed appropriate per event). This will still inevitably end up with primarily female and male divisions, as they shake out, but wiill open it up to a lot more crossover, and especially be transgender-inclusive in as fair a way as can be expected. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/90 "2018-12-26T01:10:36Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Maybe the future of sport is to forget about gender, and create new divisions based on body-type, weight, height, oestrogen or testosterone levels, etc (whatever’s deemed appropriate per event). This will still inevitably end up with primarily female and male divisions, as they shake out, but wiill open it up to a lot more crossover, and especially be transgender-inclusive in as fair a way as can be expected. I mean, I’ve been beating the “Woman(sports) != Woman(public persona)” drum for yonks, so I do not disagree. The male/female distinction in sports is a proxy, nothing more. A person’s gender is not what matters - what matters is their outward physical characteristics. What matters is things like testosterone, like percent body fat, like bone structure. Ultimately this is a very sensible tack to take - but I don’t predict us becoming that sensible any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![Textual\_Innuendo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/898d66/32.png) [@Textual\_Innuendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Textual_Innuendo)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/91 "2018-12-26T03:19:08Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Weight classes work fine, because weight is easy to measure objectively, and then it becomes a question of how efficiently you use your available weight. > > But how do you envision a “strength bracket” would work? How do you measure strength in an objective way that doesn’t depend on an athlete’s effort level? And it seems too close to the ability that the sport is measuring. I mean, you can’t have a competition to find the person who can throw furthest where the class of competitors is circularly determined by how far you can throw. I came here to bring up exactly this question - I’ve competed in strength sports, and I can’t think of any way to actually validate that somebody’s demonstrated “max” for their strength bracket is actually their max. Even in real life, you can surprise yourself with a successful max that you didn’t know you had in you. I could pull 20% less than my max on a deadlift or squat, and it will still be a fuckton of weight, and it will still look like I exerted myself really hard (especially if I intentionally ham it up to look harder). And a 20% sandbag on where you should be is a HUGE gap, that you could drive several gold-medal-winning performances through. The other options I can think of would be even worse than an honor system - you could either use immediate physical pain or injury (keep these two slowly closing walls apart with your leg strength or get smashed), or “strength verification” cash rewards large enough that they’re a bigger incentive than the top actually-winnable prize (please do this, me and all my powerlifting buddies will start qualifying for a bunch of sports for the strength prize money alone and then just never compete in them, and sports associations everywhere will go bankrupt). It sort of reminds me of those chimpanzee strength studies, where they talk about the hard part being incentivizing the chimp to pull the dynamometer, because they just don’t see the point of it - so like that, but actively incentivized in the other direction. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/92 "2018-12-26T04:16:37Z")
What little evidence there is[shows](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/do-transgender-athletes-have-an-unfair-advantage-at-the-olympics/2016/08/05/08169676-5b50-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html?utm_term=.aa41cafaf3eb) that in terms of both muscle mass and hemoglobin levels, male-to-female trans athletes on HRT for a year are equivalent to those in cis-gender females. This is the basis for the IOC’s policy. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/93 "2018-12-26T15:58:13Z")
**Warning Issued** Warning Issued for a being a jerk. Unacceptable for this forum. You are banned from this thread. Don’t post in it again. > [@Mangosteen](#): > > Look at the size of the GUY! He already played for the male Australian Handball team and now he’s playing women’s handball. Six feet 2 inches 220 pounds! > > In about ten years there won’t be any true women’s teams. The women’s teams will be only made up on transgender men who couldn’t compete in men’s leagues. > > Another LOSER (this time on a bicycle) stealing first place from women who have worked their ass of training all their lives only to “lose” to a man. > > [https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus\_thread](https://www.dailywire.com/news/39158/transgender-player-dominating-womens-handball-amanda-prestigiacomo#disqus_thread) > [https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S\_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw](https://www.dailywire.com/news/37125/transgender-cyclist-celebrates-world-championship-hank-berrien?fbclid=IwAR1s9nw5cewS685bpnW8JfqaNbHtQOagjUk1S_UblZtwG19HWzx5ygL8bcw) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/94 "2018-12-26T16:00:16Z")
**Warning Issued** Warning Issued for a being a jerk Your terminology is not acceptable in this forum. You are banned from this thread. Don’t post in it again. > [@AnthonyElite](#): > > Trans - male to female - athletes have a clear and distinct advantage over legitimate females. > > This is obvious and proven to the point of not needing a reference. > > The fact that it is even debated here is part of why this board is losing relevance all the time and dwindling to nothing. An afterthought. > > Continue to play make-believe while the obvious reality of a situation disadvantages real people. > > Not being “allowed” to call transgenderism a mental illness is ridiculous as well. But that’s another thread. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/95 "2018-12-26T16:02:53Z")
**Mod Hat On** I’ve been traveling. I’m back. Cool it with the heated and provactive language. Whether you agree or not, there are respectful ways to describe transgender people and still get whatever point across you want to make. If this continues I’ll lock this thread. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/96 "2018-12-26T23:31:46Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > No, either play in the gender class you were born into or start your own league. There is a reason we have say wheelchair basketball. Its so persons who are in wheelchairs can have a sport they can compete in. Its funny because sometimes with wheelchair sports you sometimes have people who dont belong in a wheelchair wanting to compete. Well sorry… We don’t limit eligibility for wheelchair basketball to people who were paraplegics at birth. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/97 "2018-12-26T23:59:59Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > We don’t limit eligibility for wheelchair basketball to people who were paraplegics at birth. :dubious: Perfect answer. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/98 "2018-12-28T07:57:10Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > **Mod Hat On** > > I’ve been traveling. I’m back. > > Cool it with the heated and provactive language. Whether you agree or not, there are respectful ways to describe transgender people and still get whatever point across you want to make. > > If this continues I’ll lock this thread. That awkward moment when a thread dies because one side of the argument falls afoul of the “don’t be a jerk” rule as a matter of course. (As it well should; transphobia is super jerkish. A1 modding. ❤) ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/99 "2018-12-28T10:29:57Z")
I see that notorious homophobe Martina Navratilova seems to differ from the general consensus of all the enlightened, open-minded Straight Dopers (“Smartest, Hippest!”) but then again, she probably doesn’t understand sports ethics and gender issues very well. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284/100 "2018-12-28T10:51:59Z")
> [@Royal\_Nonesutch](#): > > I see that notorious homophobe Martina Navratilova seems to differ from the general consensus of all the enlightened, open-minded Straight Dopers (“Smartest, Hippest!”) but then again, she probably doesn’t understand sports ethics and gender issues very well. 1. Martina Navratilova retracted her statements after getting shown evidence by several others on Twitter, including academic researchers on the subject. 2. Homosexuality is orthogonal to gender identity, her being gay has little to do with her knowledge of or support for trans people. In fact, contingents of cis lesbians and gay men have been known to be some of the **most** antagonistic people to trans rights since as early as Stonewall. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connecticut-parents-angry-over-trans-athlete/826284.md?page=6)