The recent Federal court rulings on the challenges to the Biden admin's Title IX attempted policy changes have provided a clear precedent, stating that "gender identity" is not the same as sex, and that Title IX's protections are based on sex.
That will be the winning strategy going forward for challenges to this gender nonsense - that the schools allowing men and boys to compete with girls and women are basing their decisions on "gender identity" when by law they must base them on sex.
The Olympic boxer was an interesting case. My understanding is that because she was born female, raised female, and identified as female on her passport, that was considered sufficient for her to compete as a woman.
What I haven’t seen discussed is that if that is the criterion to decide if an athlete is female, that standard automatically excludes trans girls and trans women from women’s sports.
The boxers are complicated cases. Word is they failed a Russian genetic test, meaning they’re XY. The Olympics chose to ignore the test. The suspicion is that they may have 5-ARD, a rare genetic condition where male fetuses don’t develop external male genitalia, leading them to be classed as female. But at puberty they develop normal male strength. Caster Semenya was genetically tested and revealed to be an XY with 5-ARD. The boxers declined to be further tested so it’s just a guess.
As Hazel-rah said, there's no evidence that either boxer was "born female," tho you may have read that claim somewhere. They may have been mis-identified as female at birth if they have a Difference of Sexual Development that can lead to female-appearing genitalia in males. The true sex is often discovered at puberty, when these kids do not menstruate, -- b/c they have internal testes rather than an internal female reproductive system. This can be quite a shock, to learn at puberty that you're not a girl after all, and deserves compassion, but does not justify competing against female athletes.
Passports are irrelevant - a bureaucratic smokescreen by the IOC, which knows that sex is never determined by passport. It's determined by XX or XY chromosomes - which can be detected via a simple cheek-swab test, and only need to be done once in a lifetime, since chromosomes do not change.
And yes, when sex (rather than gender identity) is the criteria, which it is for many world sport governing bodies (cycling, track, swimming), then males who identify as women are excluded. Not banned. They can still compete in the XY category, which is called men's or open, which is where they belong, b/c sports are physical contests, and categorized based on physical criteria (sex, age, weight, etc.)
There's no evidence that the two male boxers fighting in the women's division were "born female". They tested as male. And changing sex is not possible.
The Algerian boxer's training program manager admitted after the Olympics to him being male, and that they had put him on a program to lower his testosterone:
Quote from further down: “ After the 2023 Championship, when she was disqualified, I took the initiative and contacted a renowned endocrinologist at the University Hospital Kremlin-Bicêtre in Paris, who examined her. He confirmed that Imane was indeed a woman, despite of her karyotype and her testosterone levels. He said : “There is a problem with her hormones, and with her chromosomes, but she's a woman.” That was all that mattered to us.”
He’s saying she’s a woman with chromosome problems. In other words, XY.
I have argued elsewhere that there has to be some sort of criterion for establishing who is female in sport.
Genitalia? Hormones? Chromosomes?
Just picking the gender you want to compete in doesn’t work because of the inherent inequalities.
Since the Paralympics has multiple categories depending on level of impairment, we should have the same for gender sports, as Mariah pointed out. I, too, am not in favor of opening up female sports to trans athletes. Give them their own category or let them compete in sports that are open to males, females, and anyone in-between.
My point is that the story given by the IOC was that she had been considered female since birth (other than her ban which was not defined) and therefore should be allowed to compete. If that is the criterion, such logic would automatically exclude trans gendered athletes.
What is depressing is that "journalists" from both the Chronicle and SF Gate are reporting this as
driven by right-wing attacks on trans, advancing the transsstapo playbook. No mention at all of women who are fighting this or that 73% of Americans oppose men in women's sports.
The gender idiotology is the offspring of phrenology and the Cardiff Giant hoax.
Good point, Stosh. Yes, I checked for that coverage and because I don’t subscribe to the Chronicle, I couldn’t read it, but I could see a headline characterizing the boycotters as anti-trans. Not a column, but a news story. So readers will get the impression that it’s objective reporting, and that these are actually anti-trans protests, whereas in fact, they are pro woman.
There have been precious few coaches, judges, and school administrators willing to support their female athletes in this issue. Shame on those who haven't, they know it's wrong, but lack the backbone. I hope these four teams boycotting is the beginning of the end for this nonsense.
"She and her teammates were told, “’You shouldn't be the person to identify Blaire's gender identity. That's something that Blaire needs to do, and not you. That's not your story to tell.’”"
That every single institution has been utterly captured by the fiction of "gender identity" at this point is the problem. It allows them all to deflect from the only reality that does matter, sex. It's not a "story;" no one has to "tell" it. It's just plain old material reality.
And having to argue *material reality* with people is exhausting. I'm really proud of these young women!
Also, presumably Blaire's gender identity is "woman." Or "transwoman." Otherwise, Blaire would not have been accepted into the women's volleyball program, and able to be stealth for the first two years.
So that's not the big reveal that needs to happen - and reportedly, it has already happened, directly from Blaire to Brooke and then, under duress, from the school to the athletes.
What Blaire and the SJSU officials should have been forthcoming about from the beginning is not gender identity but sex: male. Seems the institution is mixed up about terms as well as whose rights should take precedence on a women's volleyball team.
Consent is the one thing that I’ve managed to get a die- hard (female) inclusionist to understand.
When describing how my daughter was shoved over by a high school senior boy on the soccer field I was met with the usual: girls get rough too etc etc. You’ve heard it all. Fairness or risk of injury was irrelevant. When I stated that her father and I had not consented to our daughter playing mixed sex soccer the attitude shifted. I don’t know why it made a difference but something did. Maybe as a parent herself something finally resonated.
Hi Elizabeth, Interesting! Yes, I thought I'd heard it all but things keep evolving, and I had not heard consent applied to this topic until Macy Petty used it. Now I see you and her dad were way ahead of me. Good story. People do change their minds; I know I did. One-on-one conversation is often how it happens.
A cartoon to throw into this hopper: https://open.substack.com/pub/annecantstandit/p/game-over-guys?r=qowdg&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Great post Mariah!
Thanks, Sarah!
So glad to hear you'll be speaking at the upcoming DIAG X Space on October 21.
Thank You!
The recent Federal court rulings on the challenges to the Biden admin's Title IX attempted policy changes have provided a clear precedent, stating that "gender identity" is not the same as sex, and that Title IX's protections are based on sex.
That will be the winning strategy going forward for challenges to this gender nonsense - that the schools allowing men and boys to compete with girls and women are basing their decisions on "gender identity" when by law they must base them on sex.
Yes, that's encouraging indeed.
The Olympic boxer was an interesting case. My understanding is that because she was born female, raised female, and identified as female on her passport, that was considered sufficient for her to compete as a woman.
What I haven’t seen discussed is that if that is the criterion to decide if an athlete is female, that standard automatically excludes trans girls and trans women from women’s sports.
The boxers are complicated cases. Word is they failed a Russian genetic test, meaning they’re XY. The Olympics chose to ignore the test. The suspicion is that they may have 5-ARD, a rare genetic condition where male fetuses don’t develop external male genitalia, leading them to be classed as female. But at puberty they develop normal male strength. Caster Semenya was genetically tested and revealed to be an XY with 5-ARD. The boxers declined to be further tested so it’s just a guess.
Hi A Writer,
As Hazel-rah said, there's no evidence that either boxer was "born female," tho you may have read that claim somewhere. They may have been mis-identified as female at birth if they have a Difference of Sexual Development that can lead to female-appearing genitalia in males. The true sex is often discovered at puberty, when these kids do not menstruate, -- b/c they have internal testes rather than an internal female reproductive system. This can be quite a shock, to learn at puberty that you're not a girl after all, and deserves compassion, but does not justify competing against female athletes.
Passports are irrelevant - a bureaucratic smokescreen by the IOC, which knows that sex is never determined by passport. It's determined by XX or XY chromosomes - which can be detected via a simple cheek-swab test, and only need to be done once in a lifetime, since chromosomes do not change.
And yes, when sex (rather than gender identity) is the criteria, which it is for many world sport governing bodies (cycling, track, swimming), then males who identify as women are excluded. Not banned. They can still compete in the XY category, which is called men's or open, which is where they belong, b/c sports are physical contests, and categorized based on physical criteria (sex, age, weight, etc.)
There's no evidence that the two male boxers fighting in the women's division were "born female". They tested as male. And changing sex is not possible.
The Algerian boxer's training program manager admitted after the Olympics to him being male, and that they had put him on a program to lower his testosterone:
https://www.lepoint.fr/monde/2024-olympics-imane-khelif-was-devastated-to-discover-out-of-the-blue-that-she-might-not-be-a-girl-14-08-2024-2567924_24.php
Quote from further down: “ After the 2023 Championship, when she was disqualified, I took the initiative and contacted a renowned endocrinologist at the University Hospital Kremlin-Bicêtre in Paris, who examined her. He confirmed that Imane was indeed a woman, despite of her karyotype and her testosterone levels. He said : “There is a problem with her hormones, and with her chromosomes, but she's a woman.” That was all that mattered to us.”
He’s saying she’s a woman with chromosome problems. In other words, XY.
He says it shouldn’t matter. Wrong, it should.
Right. There are no women with XY chromosomes and high testosterone. Those people are men.
I have argued elsewhere that there has to be some sort of criterion for establishing who is female in sport.
Genitalia? Hormones? Chromosomes?
Just picking the gender you want to compete in doesn’t work because of the inherent inequalities.
Since the Paralympics has multiple categories depending on level of impairment, we should have the same for gender sports, as Mariah pointed out. I, too, am not in favor of opening up female sports to trans athletes. Give them their own category or let them compete in sports that are open to males, females, and anyone in-between.
My point is that the story given by the IOC was that she had been considered female since birth (other than her ban which was not defined) and therefore should be allowed to compete. If that is the criterion, such logic would automatically exclude trans gendered athletes.
Thanks, A writer.
What is depressing is that "journalists" from both the Chronicle and SF Gate are reporting this as
driven by right-wing attacks on trans, advancing the transsstapo playbook. No mention at all of women who are fighting this or that 73% of Americans oppose men in women's sports.
The gender idiotology is the offspring of phrenology and the Cardiff Giant hoax.
Just ignore them. They’re wrong.
Good point, Stosh. Yes, I checked for that coverage and because I don’t subscribe to the Chronicle, I couldn’t read it, but I could see a headline characterizing the boycotters as anti-trans. Not a column, but a news story. So readers will get the impression that it’s objective reporting, and that these are actually anti-trans protests, whereas in fact, they are pro woman.
There have been precious few coaches, judges, and school administrators willing to support their female athletes in this issue. Shame on those who haven't, they know it's wrong, but lack the backbone. I hope these four teams boycotting is the beginning of the end for this nonsense.
I share that hope. We do have momentum, and the number of people who do find that backbone is multiplying daily. Glad you're one of them!
"She and her teammates were told, “’You shouldn't be the person to identify Blaire's gender identity. That's something that Blaire needs to do, and not you. That's not your story to tell.’”"
That every single institution has been utterly captured by the fiction of "gender identity" at this point is the problem. It allows them all to deflect from the only reality that does matter, sex. It's not a "story;" no one has to "tell" it. It's just plain old material reality.
And having to argue *material reality* with people is exhausting. I'm really proud of these young women!
Hey MM, Yes, what a quote.
Also, presumably Blaire's gender identity is "woman." Or "transwoman." Otherwise, Blaire would not have been accepted into the women's volleyball program, and able to be stealth for the first two years.
So that's not the big reveal that needs to happen - and reportedly, it has already happened, directly from Blaire to Brooke and then, under duress, from the school to the athletes.
What Blaire and the SJSU officials should have been forthcoming about from the beginning is not gender identity but sex: male. Seems the institution is mixed up about terms as well as whose rights should take precedence on a women's volleyball team.
I'm proud of the athletes too.
Consent is the one thing that I’ve managed to get a die- hard (female) inclusionist to understand.
When describing how my daughter was shoved over by a high school senior boy on the soccer field I was met with the usual: girls get rough too etc etc. You’ve heard it all. Fairness or risk of injury was irrelevant. When I stated that her father and I had not consented to our daughter playing mixed sex soccer the attitude shifted. I don’t know why it made a difference but something did. Maybe as a parent herself something finally resonated.
Good for you. It’s time to say NO to men in women’s sports.
Hi Elizabeth, Interesting! Yes, I thought I'd heard it all but things keep evolving, and I had not heard consent applied to this topic until Macy Petty used it. Now I see you and her dad were way ahead of me. Good story. People do change their minds; I know I did. One-on-one conversation is often how it happens.
Fighting against 10,000+ years of patriarchy and discrimination. The strides we’ve made in our lifetime have been amazing. Still far to go!
Yes. I vacillate between optimism and pessimism. Both are valid. We're progressing AND facing entrenched discrimination and backlash.