No Limitations, Apparently, on Human Biological Credulity

"We recognize that many trans men and non-binary people may have mixed feelings about or feel distanced from words like 'cervix'. You may prefer other words, such as 'front hole'."

"We recognize the limitations of the words we've used while also acknowledging the need for simplicity."

"Another reason we use words like 'cervix' is to normalize the reality that men can have these body parts too."

Canadian Cancer Society web page

 

"[Terms such as 'biological male', 'born male', 'born female', 'biologically male', are to be avoided since these are phrases that] can be dehumanizing and inaccurate when used to describe transgender sportspeople and athletes with sex variations."

"A person's sex category is not assigned based on genetics alone, and aspects of a person's biology can be altered when they pursue gender-affirming medical care."

International Olympic Committee 

"Even the not-very-good male, because of the size of the male advantages, will be able to beat a great many females and deny those females a chance at progressing in their own category."

"Let's just take a fantasy number -- let's just say there are eight transwomen at elite international level. To get to that point they have to exclude not just tens, but conceivably hundreds of other women."

"But what you're getting, if it's a woman doing it, is the best woman. And you're not doing it based on an unfair advantage that other women can't possibly have."

Leslie Howe, philosophy professor, University of Saskatchewan, co-author, survey of elite female Canadian athletes

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith answers questions on her promised reforms that affect transgender and transitioning youth at a news conference in Calgary on Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024. (Todd Korol/The Canadian Press)

 

Sport bodies in Canada adopted for the most part, inclusive policies hinging on gender identity alone. At events taking place in Canada featuring Canadian athletes, registration by participants is accepted in the gender category each registrant identifies with. Under its 'inclusion-first' philosophy, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport recommends participation be permitted for athletes who declare in their choice of gender category. No medical intervention required, no requirement to reveal trans status.

The issue is hugely contentious representing a square-off between competing human rights; that of biological females to equal opportunities in sport based logically enough on competing with other women for excellence in sport performance. On the other hand, there is the new 'right' of male-to-female trans athletes based on gender identity to compete in women's sport categories. If a male change to female is considered a human right in competition against biological females, these rulings favouring the 'rights' of transfemales penalize and offend the human rights of biological females.

 

Aria McGowan becomes tearful as she reflects on a proposed policy in Alberta that would ban trans women and girls from competing against cisgender women and girls. (Samuel Martin/CBC)

 

As far as the IOC seems to contend there should be no "presumption of advantage" for transfemales in competing against biological females. Sporting bodies, charges opponents of inclusion, have chosen to submit to a volume of radical trans activism, drowning out the voices of elite female athletes who know very well what they are up against in competing against a transfemale. They favour categorization by biological sex, but their voices are ignored.

Worse -- if they persist and point out the unfair advantages given to biological males claiming to be female -- they are denigrated, accused of transphobia and penalized. When Sports Canada        conducted a survey of 25 high-performing Canadian female athletes, an American based LGBTQ sports advocacy group intervened alleging the researchers were perpetuating discriminatory stereotypes referring to trans women as 'biological males'. The study found that female athletes have justified fears that speaking publicly renders them susceptible to being attacked as transphobic, a charge that imperils their sponsorship and their careers.

According to Linda Blade, kinesiologist, sport performance coach, past president of Athletics Alberta, testosterone exposure through early life for biological males drives advantages in sport performance with their greater fat-free body mass, muscle mas and other biological male advantages in strength performance. "We're not saying one (body) is worse than the other. Simply that male bodies do not belong in female competition. No matter what you do to that male body, it's always going to have male morphology".

 

Finn St Dennis, a queer researcher and co-founder of an Edmonton climbing collective for LGBTQ people, said transgender women deserve to have access to women’s spaces, including sporting leagues. (Submitted by Finn St Dennis)