SOURCE: The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jun/20/transgender-swimming-ban-cate-camp
bell-backs-fina-restrictions-in-elite-womens-competition

https://tinyurl.com/y7tarhxw

Transgender swimming ban: Cate Campbell backs Fina restrictions

'On Monday, at the world championships in Budapest, 71% of the global governing body's 152 national federations voted in favour of proposed new rules stipulating that male-to-female transgender athletes could now only compete in the women's category provided they had not experienced any physical parts of male puberty.

'It also pledged to create a working group to establish an "open" category
for trans women who do not meet the new criteria to race as female.'

Australian Olympic champion Cate Campbell, who spoke before FINA, says:
'"I am asking everyone to take a breath, to absorb before reacting. Listen to the **science and experts**. Listen to the people who stand up here and tell you how difficult it has been to reconcile inclusion and fairness."

'"That men and women are physiologically different cannot be disputed. We are only now beginning to explore and understand the origins of these physiological differences and the lasting effects of exposure to differing hormones.

'"Women, who have fought long and hard to be included and seen as equals in sport, can only do so because of the gender category distinction. To remove that distinction would be to the detriment of female athletes everywhere."

'Just.Equal, a LGBTIQ lobbying, advocacy and campaign group, called on Fina
"to re-examine the decision."

'"The decision to isolate trans women to their own lane at the pool means effectively they cannot compete at elite level because they will be
competing against themselves," said Just.Equal advisor, Sally Goldner.

Conversely, Swimming Australia commended Fina for its "comprehensive
process" in forming the policy.'


So, to summarize, FINA has not actually banned trans women. It has decided that they cannot compete as women if they have had the unfair advantage of going through puberty as males and benefiting from the testosterone levels
that their developing bodies experienced before they transitioned. FINA
have said that they plan to work towards a separate category for them. Transgender lobbiest don't like this because it forces them to compete
against themselves instead of on an unlevel playing field where their
fellow biologically female competitors are not allowed to take testosterone supplements.

If they think that they should not be held to competing "against themselves," why not continue to compete against men where the playing field, and testosterone levels, are more level?

Maybe because it is not about that?

Now, if it is a sport that allows the women to take testosterone supplements and/or other performance enhancing supplements I think it would/should be different. As is, biological males have no business competing in women's sports.

Going back to "the ban," you can somewhat tell the political beliefs of the writers/publishers of the articles about this by the headline. The Guardian and Newsweek use the word "ban" while Reuters calls it a "decision."

Per Reuters, Olympic gold medallist Emily Seebohm has also come out in
support of the decision, saying that it would encourage women swimmers to
"stay in the sport." OTOH, per the Guardian article, Olympic silver
medallist Madeline Groves called it a "discriminatory and unscientific decision." You can read her mostly emotion-based response in the
linked article.

My favorite part of it all is when Campbell used the "science and experts" line, which is often the part of several leftist matras... unless, of course, the "science and experts" disagree with them. But remember that only Conservatives are ever against science.


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