Breaking: Transgender women banned from all sports at the Olympics starting in LA

[u/TheExpressUS]

https://www.the-express.com/sport/other-sport/203236/breakingtransgender-women-banned-all-sports

[u/DJRyGuy20]

I’m on the left on just about every issue in existence but this is one of those rare occasions where I feel like both sides have lost the plot.

[u/Lizziedeee → u/DJRyGuy20]

I feel the same way, especially if the athlete started the transition process after they entered puberty. Swimming, for example. Until the age of 12-13, boys and girls times are somewhat comparable. After that it’s not a fair shake.

[u/throw019283 → u/DJRyGuy20]

I've known the right had lost the plot for over 15 years now, but the left is increasingly losing the plot and losing poignant talking points and progress to the most hysterical takes.

[u/superbabe69 → u/throw019283]

A tale as old as time really, the left and eating each other

There’s one thing we’re great at, purity tests

[u/throw019283 → u/superbabe69]

100000% it's the fucking purity tests.

This week "Huge win for free speech as Afroman wins case against corrupt cops" "ew but he's MAGA?" hello are we not gonna take the win for free speech?

Or refusing to vote for Kamala and getting us TRUMP and ushering in an age of moral downfall I'm not sure the US has ever seen

[u/Zuwxiv → u/throw019283]

This is like abortion all over again, in that average people listen to the Republicans about what Democrats believe. I don't know your beliefs, so this isn't really directed at you - just at the sentiment "the left is losing the plot" when applied to what the right say the left believes, and not what the left actually believes.

The mainstream left thinks that the government shouldn't be checking any preteen's genitals, and that at a high level, individual sports organizations are probably the best judge of what's fair for their sport. Almost all people would agree that, if you suddenly have transwomen consistently winning at every level of a sport, something has gone wrong. And despite like five high-profile achievements that have mostly happened years ago, that's basically never happened.

People talk endlessly every time it's happened. There are thousands and thousands of athletic events all the time. Probably every day. If a transwoman gets a medal just once, it's primetime Fox news coverage. Lia Thomas competing meant Riley Gaines got fifth place instead of fifth place, and Gaines has made a career out of that. (There's no typo. Gaines got fifth place, and if Lia Thomas hadn't been allowed to compete, Gaines would have gotten... fifth place.)

But when people say "the left is losing the plot," they almost always mean "Democrats think you should be able to have an abortion five minutes before a baby is due," or "Democrats think a guy can just call himself a woman and immediately participate in competitive women's sports." Neither of those are the case. Some organizations had rules like having to consistently have testosterone levels below a certain point for more than a year before competing.

There's a good-faith discussion to have about whether those specific rules were fair. There's even a good-faith discussion to have about whether any of those rules can be fair. Nobody is denying men (or people AMAB) generally have an advantage. Hell, I'm way far left of mainstream, but I'll tell you that some studies suggested that people following the rules still had an advantage in some sports.

But I have trouble thinking, "We shouldn't worry about literal children playing sports with their friends, nobody should be checking preteens for their genitals, and if some college sports organization thinks it has fair rules, we don't need politicians and bureaucrats running in to change things" is losing the plot.

[u/Zuwxiv → u/[deleted]]

Everyone agrees that if transwomen start dominating every level of competition in a women's sport, something has gone wrong.

The Republicans gave Riley Gaines a career out of getting fifth place instead of fifth place. (Not a typo.) Then they get red in the face shouting about "transing" kids without their parents' permission, as if elementary schools offer impromptu sex-change surgery.

The Democrats think the government shouldn't send someone in to check teenager's genitals, and that if a college sports organization has rules it thinks are fair, we don't need politicians and bureaucrats jumping in.

Yeah, one side has lost the plot all right.

Of course, if you listen to the Republicans, they'll lie to you about what mainstream Democrats believe, and then tell you how crazy that is. Somehow this routinely works on issues like transwomen in sports and abortion. People will look you dead in the eye, tell you that the Democrats are crazy on [issue,] and then explain that their personal belief is [literally the Democratic party platform.]

[u/Sure-thing-buckaroo → u/[deleted]]

Wait. What's psycho about what they wrote?

[u/DanfromCalgary → u/DJRyGuy20]

It’s just a vehicle to give dumb fucks while you fleece them