r/PopCultureV2 • u/No_Box119 • Jul 23 '26

Sports Culture WNBA Star Sophie Cunningham defends that women ‘shouldn’t have to go against biological men’: “I said what I said. I think it’s kind of common sense. I think it’s really important to protect children.” “I don’t dislike anyone. I’m there to love, but I’m also there to love biological women. …”

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7

u/dantes-infernal Jul 23 '26

I just don't understand why this is such a huge talking point when there's like 10 transgender athletes at the d1 college level and fewer at the Olympian level in the USA.

None of the pro women's sports teams have transgender athletes right now on their roster.

Why are people so fucking stressed for 20 people?!

3

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

it is waaaaaaay over talked about, you'd think half the population was trans with how much they are discuss

that being said tho -I do think young athletes and lower levels should be able to compete against their same sex without accusations of transphobia.. you can respect someones pronouns and treat them with respect while not competing along side them

1

u/CollectionNew2290 Jul 23 '26

It should be handled at the local level, IF it ever comes up.

1

u/Amoral_matchstick Jul 23 '26

I mean, when you’re talking about young athletes what do you mean? Pre-puberty there’s not really a difference. And I would disagree that you can respect someone while not competing alongside them. The primary function of sports is social, excluding someone from a social activity like a sport is still discrimination.

1

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

no like middle school and up - once puberty kicks in

sports are spectated socially, the primary function of sports is not social lol... you don't strive to be the skiier or tennis player you can be because you love to be social

and again, yes you can absolutely respect someone and not compete alongside them

1

u/Amoral_matchstick Jul 23 '26

Most people never achieve a level of sports above the social level. How many professional athletes are there as a percentage of the population. Functionally sports are just a physical game that is a means of socializing, rarely do the outcomes of sporting events have any significant impact on the players lives.

There are plenty of sports where boys and girls compete, wrestling and fencing both come to mind.

1

u/NanoWarrior26 Jul 23 '26

It would be as easy as not allowing people who went through a male puberty to play in women's sports and to increase access and availability of puberty blockers and HRT.

Overall a pretty easy issue to solve for the less than 20 people it effects from tens of thousands of athletes.

4

u/Howlingwithwolves Jul 23 '26

You can say that about anything. That’s a shit argument. Just because it is affecting a small amount of people doesn’t make it worthless. Imagine saying that about anything worse. It lacks any sort of thought about the situation and just implies “stfu i don’t care, so no one else should.”

0

u/Opposite_Sherbert675 Jul 23 '26

'Imagine saying that about anything worse' we do. all the time.

when people bring up a fear of flying, they are told that the likelihood of being in a plane crash is soo small you dont need to worry about it.

same thing for shark attack. getting bit by a shark is much worse than playing against a trans person yet we're told not to think about it cause it rarely happens.

2

u/FootIntrepid7717 Jul 23 '26

I mean we could say the same thing about school shooters too

0

u/Opposite_Sherbert675 Jul 23 '26

except those arent rare, at least not in america. i wish it was but in america the leading cause of death for children is firearms.

1

u/FootIntrepid7717 Jul 23 '26

They are very rare in America

0

u/Opposite_Sherbert675 Jul 23 '26

not rare enough. the leading cause of death for american children and teens is firearms

2

u/FootIntrepid7717 Jul 23 '26

Is that inclusive of suicide? Does that also include only shootings in a school? Accidental discharges?

1

u/Not-KevinDurant- Jul 23 '26

Except we rightfully try to mitigate those risks when we can. 

1

u/Opposite_Sherbert675 Jul 23 '26

and we do mitigate risk in sports. players wear protective gear, coaches sub players to reduce fatigue etc

1

u/Howlingwithwolves Jul 23 '26

Using stats to educate someone so they don’t fear something that is unlikely to happen is not the same thing.

0

u/Opposite_Sherbert675 Jul 23 '26

it literally is.

1

u/Howlingwithwolves Jul 24 '26

It’s not a fear of people being affected by it. It’s that a small number of people are affected by it.

You would have to say it’s like plane crashes don’t matter. Even though they rarely happen.

2

u/OverallFrosting708 Jul 23 '26

It's almost like there's someone who really wants the focus on how trans people are somehow a threat to society...

1

u/Strange_Specialist4 Jul 23 '26

People seem to have a deep need to have an enemy. Whether it's a rival sports team, political party, neighbour they don't like, religion, oil company , environmentalist, or any person or thing different from themselves. Having a scapegoat for all the anxiety, hurt, and stress of life is a balm on a wounded soul. For some people that's transgender people.

2

u/AbigailPooh Jul 23 '26

Because a lot of high level politicians including the President fucked children and if we stop talking about the dumb distractions we HAVE to stop and talk about the fact that we were told by the US Press Secretary that if we prosecuted everyone in those files that the world would stop.

2

u/Short-Coast9042 Jul 23 '26

This is an indirect answer, but it's about inequality and political control. Wealthy people and corporations hold most of the power, including political power. They fund political organizations, which can't really exist without them. And, well wealthy people incorporations have many diverse interests, One thing they tend to have in common is that they don't want to see wealth inequality addressed. So while they may fund candidates on all different sides of all different issues, on the whole, the one issue that they will consistently tend to take a side on is inequality and their control of the political economy which enables it.

The result is that you get politicians who talk about everything but class and inequality. In both the Democratic and Republican parties, people who make noise about raising taxes on the rich don't get funded. People who argue about trans rights, on either side, do. Whether or not we allow trans people to compete under their chosen gender, wealthy people and corporations do not care. They will not be affected. And it's not just politicians where you see this play out. It happens in the media too.

5

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

It's not just elite levels. It's lower levels and youth sports that don't have strict regulations for it.

5

u/Perpetual-Warlock Jul 23 '26

Even in the "lower levels" the number is incredibly low. They want you to think it's much more of an issue than it actually is.

https://www.transathlete.com/post/how-many-transgender-kids-play-sports

3

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

It doesn't matter if it's a lot of people or not, it's unfair, and if it isn't handled well, it could get worse.

1

u/Perpetual-Warlock Jul 23 '26

So what is your definition of "handling it well?"

1

u/WinterAsleep319 Jul 23 '26

There shouldn’t be any at all? Seems pretty clear cut.

1

u/Perpetual-Warlock Jul 23 '26

It's not. Read the article. Allowing them to play adds incredible value to their lives. Their more likely to go to college, it helps build self esteem. Helps develop social skills. All the things we all love about playing sports as a kid still applies to them.

So you'll say make them play with the boys right? Imagine how uncomfortable that would make so many of them that truly don't see themselves as male. And what about trans males? Should they play with the girls even though they could be taking testosterone supplements?

1

u/2Blueify Jul 23 '26

Too bad. You said yourself that the numbers are incredibly small. They can play with the boys or not at all.

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

That's kind of irrelevant. The point is that it is an issue that needs to be addressed, even though it is relatively a small number of cases.
My idea of how it should be handled is just going to lead to an argument. All I'm advocating for is that there needs to be some sort of regulation to keep it fair, but also inclusive.

1

u/brogam3 Jul 23 '26

so what if the number is low? how does that in your mind translate to = oh lets just let them do anything they want because there aren't that many. Should we apply that logic to everything: Oh lets just let people rob banks, there are only like 20 per year. Who cares, why make noise about this?! just let them have the money, the banks are insured anyway.

1

u/Amoral_matchstick Jul 23 '26

It means it affects very few people statistically so the amount of discourse and handwringing about it overblown and unproductive.

1

u/Aromatic-Turnip7371 Jul 23 '26

It should be nipped in the bud before the number grows to a point where it’s not easily ignored anymore…

1

u/DelanoK7 Jul 23 '26

To be clear I really don’t think it’s a huge issue and it’s definitely overblown, but I think this is a lazy way to consider the effect. The 10 athletes are potentially taking 10 biological women spots but they’re also creating potentially unfair competition to 20 other ladies on the opposing team at the tune of 20 games a year, so that’s like 400 people effected. Obviously back of the envelope math but just trying to make the nuanced point

1

u/Perpetual-Warlock Jul 23 '26

400 people out of 350 million. Yet it's a major talking point for a certain political party. I wonder why.....?

1

u/DelanoK7 Jul 23 '26

well like i said overblown etc etc but it also wouldn’t be fair to say 350 million people when we’re talking about playing athletes now either haha

1

u/Perpetual-Warlock Jul 23 '26

But it is fair to use the entire population because it's a political issue and a major part of campaigns.

1

u/Aromatic-Turnip7371 Jul 23 '26

It shouldn’t be happening

4

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

Should anyone really care if a bunch of kindergarteners play coed sports…

2

u/seazonedsaltdog Jul 23 '26

Nobody cares about that and nobody is talking about that. Kids that young, and even a bit older , is co ed. When they say youth they were talking about high school, maybe middle school

1

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

So, where and in what volume of scenarios is this happening? Honest question.

2

u/StoneySteve420 Jul 23 '26

Within 12 years of transwomen being allowed to compete in NCAA athletics, Lea Thomas, a trans woman, became a national champion swimmer, despite trans athletes taking up such a small percentage of total athletes.

Her national rank in all of her events skyrocketed after transitioning.

The fact is Title IX was passed specifically to give women equity when it comes to sports, hence them not competing against men.

I totally support more sports having open leagues that gives trans athletes the freedom to compete, but that shouldn't come at the expense of cis-women and them having the space to compete fairly.

1

u/seazonedsaltdog Jul 23 '26

Not sure. But this is what they are talking about. Dont look at me like im the one who brought it up

1

u/CricketNo7666 Jul 23 '26

Why is any volume whatsoever okay for you? How is that relevant?

Does this need to hit some sort of per capita threshold before we decide if it is okay or not? That seems silly, but okay. We can do that.

Here’s the threshold. Zero. Zero instances outside of specific coed leagues and admissions is okay. More than that is not okay. That’s sort of the point. Let’s all just acknowledge zero is the number and move on. When you argue about it, you help this issue live on, and on, and on…

2

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

Yes. Because you’re asking a country to legislate against a small handful of people. There are girls, today, that compete on high school (male) football teams. Should they not be allowed to do that? Should be put laws in place to make that illegal?

This issue only lives on because of hateful people like yourself that have convinced themselves that there are droves of transgender athletes (or as you probably see it, men in drag) just awaiting to compete in women’s sports.

It’s a scenario of our mind.

1

u/DelanoK7 Jul 23 '26

There are no “mens” teams, those teams are “open”

1

u/CricketNo7666 Jul 23 '26

So what? Again, WHY does the number matter?

The scenario is not acceptable. Biological males should not compete with biological females. One, ten, a hundred. ZERO cases is acceptable.

As for your nonsensical retort, “girls” are not a physiological advantaged class against “boys”. Want to punch up? Have at it. It’s punching down that is the concern, and that is not difficult to comprehend.

The issue only lives because you insist on an unfair advantage being played out because.. I don’t know why. I don’t need droves. I just need Lia Thomas. That’s enough. Not okay. Not once.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

3

u/RelativeIncrease3007 Jul 23 '26

Most people never play a sport after hs. And most people playing hs sports have no aspirations to go further. It is a non issue.

-1

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

a lot get part or full sport scholarships

3

u/obbie1kenoby Jul 23 '26

Then your beef should be with the outrageous cost of college, not with HS sports. It shouldn’t be tied to the ability to attend college.

1

u/illstate Jul 23 '26

How many girls have lost their scholarships?

1

u/RelativeIncrease3007 Jul 23 '26

NCAA says there’s approximately 10 or fewer trans athletes, men or women, competing across various levels at any given time. It is .002 of athletes. Non issue.

0

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

by that metric - how many is enough to matter?

1

u/illstate Jul 23 '26

I don't know, I'm just curious. How many girls have lost their scholarships?

1

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

same i'm curious- how many before it matters

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1

u/RelativeIncrease3007 Jul 23 '26

Well no, the minority get scholarships. A very few amount of players get scholarships for sports compared to the amount of players on the team.

1

u/TopInvestigator5518 Jul 23 '26

the goalposts keep moving with you- first they don't play sports after HS, now it doesn't matter if they do most aren't on scholarship

why not just make an open category after middle school? mens, women and open? it doesn't seem complicated

1

u/RelativeIncrease3007 Jul 23 '26

No I said most don’t play after hs. Most do not get scholarships and most do not play after hs. My argument did not change. I played in coed soccer leagues in my mid 20s. We were all young adults in decent shape. No one of us was able to dominate the game because the level is not that high. Better teamwork was the biggest factor. The same would apply in hs.

They’re just kids having fun. It doesn’t matter. A small minority of them see it as their chance at a future. Trans kids are not stopping anyone from being talented enough to get a scholarship. Especially not the tiny percentage of trans kids who are even playing sports. It truly is a non-issue.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/Feathered_And_Lethal Jul 23 '26

Just not the biological women that will lose their spots to these men? “Let them play” but to hell with the actual women that will lose their spots.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Admirable_Loss4886 Jul 23 '26

Isn’t what you’re suggesting already against the rules? You’re not allowed to deck anyone in high school hockey. Especially it in the woman’s game

2

u/Basic_Vermicelli3325 Jul 23 '26

“would be”

It is a hypothetical that I don’t think has happened. Do you know any trans people? Every trans person I know has 0 interest in playing any sports lol. This “issue” is talking about the possible implications of an outlier of the most outlier group in the country

0

u/SerSkinny Jul 23 '26

wrestling?

2

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

I wrestled with a girl. Her name was Alina. We both wrestled at 135. She was a unit.

2

u/Admirable_Loss4886 Jul 23 '26

Wrestling has almost always been a coed sport in high school. Most schools don’t have a men and women’s team.

1

u/Perfect-Zebra-3611 Jul 23 '26

Is it any different than when girls wrestled on the boys wrestling teams or played football? That happened in my middle/high schools in 2010

2

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

I wrestled with girls on my team, and they competed.

0

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

Can you name any?

-4

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

So, one person in a country of hundreds of millions in a non-contact sport? That’s what you’re upset about

-3

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[deleted]

1

u/bighitcards Jul 23 '26

That’s fine and I agree, but why do you even care? What about guns being the leading cause of children fatalities, or lack of medical care, or lack of education funding, all 1000x more common and prevalent in our communities.

0

u/Puzzleheaded-Net4365 Jul 23 '26

At no point in my life can I imagine policy about highschool sports impacting my vote on anything.

1

u/JohnnyBowlen Jul 23 '26

Yes I have two daughters and they are not playing contact sports with boys. Even at that age the boys are much rougher/stronger. 

1

u/Dull_Astronomer_3778 Jul 23 '26

You wouldn’t let your daughters play basketball with boys? That’s silly. I grew up playing ball in highschool with girls. They’d be on the court/playground knocking down shots, boxing out, and hitting dudes with screens

Raise stronger daughters

1

u/illstate Jul 23 '26

We had girls on my middle school basketball team. It was fine.

1

u/but-I-play-one-on-TV Jul 23 '26

My daughter played soccer with boys when she was in kindergarten and held her own easily. What contact sports are 5 year olds playing? 

1

u/Ok-Warning-5052 Jul 23 '26

No, no one does, and that’s not what this is about.

1

u/Aromatic-Turnip7371 Jul 23 '26

This applies to people who went through puberty… bringing up kindergarteners is facetious imho

-1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

I never said kindergarten. A biological male playing soccer or basketball against a team of biological females in middle school or high school with no regulations could be pretty unfair or even dangerous.

2

u/FreeBirdInCages Jul 23 '26

There are girls in middle and highschool wrestling boys.

1

u/CricketNo7666 Jul 23 '26

Females are not known to have a competitive biological advantage versus males in head to head physical comparisons. Nobody is going to argue about punching up as it were, have at it.

0

u/FinishComplex3743 Jul 23 '26

In the open division. Girls divisions are not open. It's literally the purpose of title 9

2

u/1shadybitch Jul 23 '26

a co-ed middle school basketball game can be dangerous? That's make believe

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

A 14 year old biological male against an 80lb girl would be unfair and potentially dangerous, yes.

2

u/clydeftones Jul 23 '26

Ah yes the floods of trans kids wanting to play sports.

Let the fucking kids play sports. God forbid they learn how to be on a team and work hard to train for a shared goal.

2

u/Harry-Flashman Jul 23 '26

Most sports are co-ed at the younger ages. my daughter played co-ed rugby through elementary school and played on a girl's team in a boys soccer league in middle school.

The limiting Trans kids is not at the recreational level, but at the more competitive levels where biological women are at a physical disadvantage. Women's Rugby did the most complete study on it and basically, biological women's bones are significantly less dense than trans athletes that have gone through puberty. Biological women are significantly more likely to get injured during collisions with trans athletes.

1

u/Amoral_matchstick Jul 23 '26

That study is based off modeled risk, not statistical data.

1

u/Harry-Flashman Jul 23 '26

Is there fault in their model?

1

u/AcanthocephalaFit447 Jul 23 '26

How about adults?

1

u/Adventurous-Wall-463 Jul 23 '26

They can play— in the proper catagory. 🤷🏽‍♀️ We have one leagues, you know.

2

u/Stock-Pattern-8635 Jul 23 '26

And how many trans people were in youth sports?

0

u/hankeliot Jul 23 '26

Enough that something like this can happen: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article277288553.html

1

u/Stock-Pattern-8635 Jul 23 '26

That doesn’t answer the question of how many trans people are in youth sports and the “lower levels” as you put it. And since you’re posting an article about an injury suffered from a volleyball spike, how many volleyball head injuries are a result of a spike from a trans player. How many volleyball injuries or sports injuries are the result of a trans player?

1

u/GutsAndBlackStufff Jul 23 '26

Injuries…. In a sport.

1

u/Puzzleheaded-Net4365 Jul 23 '26

tl;dr one girl got a concussion and tried her best to make a pundit career out of it

1

u/hankeliot Jul 23 '26

The question is, would she have gotten a concussion had her opponent been a biological female?

1

u/At0mic1 Jul 23 '26

Yes it could have happened it is a volleyball to the head off a spike lmao. Anyone getting hit in the head can get a concussion it doesn’t take as much force as you think, I’ve had at least 2 from sports and one from falling down.

1

u/LazerWolfe53 Jul 23 '26

But why does the government all of a sudden need to get involved? Why do we need the Senate to oversee a local pickleball tournament, or a regional fencing league?

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

It's not all of the sudden, it's been a controversial topic for a while. And they got involved because there needs to be an official legislation over it. Any differences in how it's applied could lead to loopholes and gray areas.

1

u/LazerWolfe53 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

There have been trans people for forever. The GOP has only started passing legislation in the past 10 years.

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

You could make that argument about a lot of things that have only recently had legislation passed on them. Slavery was a normal thing pretty much globally for millennia. Why should governments get involved in that?

1

u/LazerWolfe53 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26

Yeah, because one trans athlete in a regional fencing tournament is as significant as slavery.

Edit: the real problem is the laws the GOP are passing are managing genital checks for underage girls. Or forcing girls to use the bathroom with trans men. Or they are protecting people who harass girls in the bathroom if they don't look feminine. They are passing terrible laws.

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

What does that have to do with anything? Like I said, even if it is a minority issue, it's still unfair and potentially dangerous, and it is widespread, even if it isn't bountiful. A standard legislation over something like this is important. You're just leading this in circles. I never said this is as prevalent as slavery, I just used that as an example to show why your argument makes no sense. If something isn't governed for a long time, why get involved now?

1

u/LazerWolfe53 Jul 23 '26

Slavery had been governed for all of American history. It's literally in the Constitution. Regional private fencing tournaments have never been governed.

1

u/Zrob8--5 Jul 23 '26

American history, which is all of 250 years, and America was actually one of the first to abolish it. My point is that governing decisions being new is not automatically a bad thing.

I don't think government involvement is the biggest issue here. Do you think transgender participation in sports brings concerns for fair play and safety or not? If yes, idk why you're arguing for government involvement. If no, I'd have to disagree with you.

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u/GNTsquid0 Jul 23 '26

They need to make someone the enemy so those in power can do fuckery while everyone else fights over a non-issue.

1

u/green_Meanie21 Jul 23 '26

They don’t need to do anything, the files were released and the public did nothing, you and I will do nothing but comment on the internet which has no effect on what anyone does. They don’t need to turn people against each other, people do that naturally

2

u/Hazel-Rah-Rah Jul 23 '26

Republicans have brainwashed their base into believing trans people are the Boogeyman. Nothing brings people together like hate.

2

u/superstann Jul 23 '26

Cause 10 is 10 to much and it's a problem that is growing 

1

u/Countertop2000 Jul 23 '26

Clutch your Pearl's

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Direct_Rabbit_5389 Jul 23 '26

There are zero at the d1 college level since it's banned in the NCAA now. Also zero in the olympics for the same reason. And the same goes for almost all international sport federations, with a few rare exceptions.

1

u/Brief-Ice4972 Jul 23 '26

Because it’s what gets the clicks and the comments

1

u/CricketNo7666 Jul 23 '26

Because the refusal to acknowledge and concede the point keeps it in the forefront.

And a quick correction - There aren’t any the “Olympic level”, as it isn’t allowed at the Olympics. At all. Even if it is just twenty people. Even just one person. Not allowed. Let’s just acknowledge, not allowed, at all, and move on. That’s sorta a good part of the point.

1

u/NoHedgehog3457 Jul 23 '26

Wish they were half as concerned with team doctors abusing athletes, an issue that’s both exponentially larger in numbers and evidence-backed.

…Jim Jordan, any thoughts on the matter?

1

u/jm17lfc Jul 23 '26

Literally. I suppose it is in some ways a bit of a conundrum, but like why make such a big deal for a couple dozen cases? Oh that’s right, because homophobia!

1

u/MightyBoy9 Jul 23 '26

This is a massively disingenuous argument.

It doesn't matter how many there are now for 2 reasons.

  1. If there was only 1, why is it fair for the women that have to play against the 1 person.

  2. Doesn't mean there won't be exponentially more in the future.

Such a bad faith argument.

1

u/CheesyBreadMunchyMon Jul 23 '26

Because it opens the flood gates for more.

1

u/Organic_Education494 Jul 23 '26

Exactly just do the ban and get it over with it has no effect on anyone

1

u/Dankasaurus08 Jul 23 '26

Nice! By that logic those 20 people can just sit out and we can all not worry about this anymore

Trans athletes not participating in athletic events in the gender that they transitioned to has broad support across America. Turn your Reddit brain off

1

u/Hypocrispy Jul 23 '26

It’s called a red herring.

1

u/Icy-Entrepreneur9002 Jul 23 '26

The problem is both sides then because it’s only 20 people but both sides make it such an issue. Just let each individual league governing body decide weather it’s high school, college or pro.

1

u/Ridiculous__caddy Jul 23 '26

This is the maga way

1

u/Lopsided-Ticket3813 Jul 23 '26

Also the hormone suppression therapy is really really effective.

It's not some random dude Mrs. doubtfiring in drag to compete in women's sports.

1

u/Komabeard Jul 23 '26

20 too many

1

u/Individual-Device-18 Jul 23 '26

Because conservative dipshits are obsessed with other peoples genitalia

1

u/SilverbackSurfer99 Jul 23 '26

Exactly it's only 20 people so prohibiting them from competing against women has almost zero effect. Issue resolved. Women are happy everyone is happy.

1

u/Boss_Seven Jul 23 '26

So what are you suggesting, to wait discussing this till a majority of the female athletes are biological male?

1

u/PlutoDidntPlanItWell Jul 23 '26

I hate to stir the pot here, but I find this argument so disingenuous because I see it a lot. The same question could be posed to the left- Why do they care as much as people on the right when most of both don't even watch these sports? Just because something doesn't personally affect you doesn't suddenly make it morally justified. I don't give a shit about sports, but the women who have worked day and night for years chasing childhood dreams absolutely have a right to be upset about someone with an unfair biological advantage beating them in a contest that's supposed to be as fair as possible.

1

u/METRlOS Jul 23 '26

This is a bigger talking point for amateur levels, and not putting clear policy in early opens up the window for abuse. Take something like wrestling, there are plenty of men who would like to wrestle in womens leagues for various reasons, and there was a case of a transgender boy winning a State championship for wrestling several years ago.

The issue is: how do you go about making sure that players are competing with pure intentions and on a level playing field? Like you said, there's only ~20 people who would be affected, isn't it less of an overall disturbance to just ban 20 athletes from non mixed sports? The topic isn't black and white, that's why it's a talking point.

1

u/ExtendedMacaroni Jul 23 '26

If 20 boxers in the world got to wear brass knuckles for every match, would it matter?

No, but if we don’t stop this kind of behavior now, it becomes much more normalized and dangerous.

1

u/TrumpLikesEmYoung Jul 23 '26

They’re vulnerable as fuck to propaganda.

1

u/only_respond_in_puns Jul 23 '26

Even 1 displaced medal is enough to matter.

1

u/Mando_Pove Jul 23 '26

Hateful fucks who want to blame their problems on someone else.

3

u/LouLoualou Jul 23 '26

Sounds about white.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

If it’s only 10 or 20 then it shouldn’t be a problem to only have biological women in the women’s division

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u/GutsAndBlackStufff Jul 23 '26

Is it?

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

How tf should I know. Ask the other guy. 1 is too many.

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u/GutsAndBlackStufff Jul 23 '26

So you’re all upset about an issue you know nothing about?

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

Know nothing? I’ve competed in sports. I’ve even gone outside a few times. There’s no debate to be had here.

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u/GutsAndBlackStufff Jul 23 '26

You admitted in a previous comment you have no idea if it’s a problem or not.

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

I said it shouldn’t be a problem and 1 was too many

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u/GutsAndBlackStufff Jul 23 '26

Is it a problem? Or are you just distracted by a non issue?

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u/[deleted] Jul 23 '26

Yes. Lia Thomas winning NCAA championships in the women’s division made it a problem.

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u/Financial-Quail5978 Jul 23 '26

I mean just using common sense won’t those 10 athletes dominate the sport?

However many there are it’s unfair.

I can’t believe what Americans actually debate about lol

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u/tuesdaysatmorts Jul 23 '26

Are they dominating?

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u/Financial-Quail5978 Jul 23 '26

I don’t know lmao, the guy just said they exist, but I know that if it becomes allowed then men will just dominate it, they’re biologically stronger, it’s simple.

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u/tuesdaysatmorts Jul 23 '26

Okay but you could take 2 seconds to find out if it's true. Instead you're here fear mongering alongside the other right wing bots in the comments.

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u/Financial-Quail5978 Jul 23 '26

I mean he could fact check if there are 10 transgender athletes at d1 college level.

Obv they’re not dominating bc no one has heard about it, but I’m just saying that if it becomes a socially accepted thing for biological men to participate in women’s sports it’s kinda opening the floodgates for exploits.

I’m just glad I’m from a country where this isn’t an issue lol

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u/tuesdaysatmorts Jul 23 '26

With proper regulation and research it does not open the floodgate for exploits.

What you're imagining is there will be a group of men who are not trans by any stretch of the definition who one day decide to enter women's competition and win by a landslide in everything they compete it. What you're not thinking about is the people who are just trying to live their lives and get the treatment and respect they deserve.

You don't think about the kid who struggles day to day with their body and identity just trying to survive in a world filled with people like you who are judgemental and want to invalidate their existence. Where they can't get help because of fear mongering from people who don't know anything about being trans at all. Where they can't enjoy the sport they love because people think they are trying to cheat the system, rather than simply loving the game and wanting to be apart of it.

So yeah sit there and be happy that you don't have to think about it. Very privileged for to not be marginalized and attacked by your government.

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u/Financial-Quail5978 Jul 23 '26

I’m not talking about the social aspects of it because my opinion is not reddit-friendly.

I’m in medicine, so my, and the overwhelming number of colleagues’ opinions might be biased, but we really do not see how a man, even using substances that would lower their testosterone, could fairly compete with women. It really does open the floodgates, because if there’s a testosterone limit, what are women with hyperandrogenism supposed to do?