Do transwomen in sports make it less safe

* Trigger warning: The author uses the term men/man in reference to biological men throughout this article.

AOC has made the claim that “Targeting trans children for playing sports makes all women, whether trans or cisgender, less safe”.

Her use of the word targeting is interesting. It implies there is some mechanism to identify a subset of athletes who are competing in a sex category as not being eligible for that category. We are told that transwomen are women, but are they.

Transwomen are women

The argument that transwomen are women fails through the mere utterance of the words. If transwomen were women we would not call them transwomen. Transwomen are in fact men who for whatever reason want to be women. We used to call men who dressed as women transvestites. Everyone knew who and what they were, most people didn’t care.

“Virtually no major issue that this is precipitating”

AOC’s claim that there is no major issue with men participating in women’s sports is wrong for a number of reasons.

1. Removes the opportunities for women to participate
2. Creates a second rate men’s category
3. Is dangerous to women

Removes the opportunities for women to participate

Every man who participates in a women’s sport is taking away an opportunity for a woman to participate. Furthermore it dissuades girls from even participating as they can see that to do so is pointless as the men competing have an advantage in all physical attributes.

Creates a second rate men’s category

• Two men have taken first and second place at a cycling event in Illinois
• William Thomas^*3 ranked 554th in 200 freestyle, 65th in the 500 freestyle, and 32nd in the 1650 freestyle
  • Lia ranked fifth in the 200 freestyle, first in the 500 freestyle, and eighth in the 1650 freestyle
• Anne Andres crushes women’s powerlifting record, 200kg more than closest rival
  • Anne lifts 597.5kv v men 839.1kg in the 82.5kg 40 year category ^*5

Is dangerous to women

This is by far the worst misrepresentation made by AOC, she states that there is “no major issue”

1. Girl gets teeth knocked out in hockey match^*6
2. Trans MMA fighter crushes opponents skull^*7
3. Volleyballer gets knocked out by trans competitor

Men v Women’s bodies

• The women had 45, 41, 30 and 25% smaller muscle CSAs for the biceps brachii, total elbow flexors, vastus lateralis and total knee extensors respectively ^*1
• Average height man^*2: 1.77m v woman 1.63m
• Average weight man^*2: 90.6kg v woman 77.1kg
• Average BMI man^*2: 29.0 v woman 29

Conclusion

Having men participate in women’s sport adds an extra level of risk to the women involved, it removes opportunity for women and girls and will likely reduce the level of female participation.

AOC claim that the men involved would be marginalised and excluded from sports. This is not true, no one is saying they cannot compete, we only expect them to compete against people of the same sex.

My suggestion is that all male sports be changes to open categories, if women feel that can beat men then let them have a go. We already know that mean beat women in just about every feat of strength. This is well documented with over 100 years of world records where women have not yet bested a man in a feat of strength.