From the OP:
The assertion Martina made is:
"The participation of transgender women in elite female sporting competitions 'insane' and 'cheating”'.
You concurred with her:
"And she is right."
My post refutes the following element of Martina's remark: "The participation of transgender women in elite female sporting competitions [is] "
cheating."
I refuted the legitimacy of that assertion by citing the Gooren and Bunck study referenced by the article from which YOU took Martina's remark.
- Based on that study's findings, the mere fact that an athlete is an MTF trans provides no competitive edge.
Gooren and Bunck [G&B], [in "
Transsexuals and competitive sports," explored] whether transgender people taking cross-sex hormone treatment can fairly compete in sport. [They] measured transgender people’s muscle mass (via [MRI]) and hormone levels (via urine and blood analyses) before and 1 year after cross-sex hormone treatment.
They found that 1 year after transgender male [(FTM trans)] individuals [received] cross-sex hormone treatment [(CSHT)],
- [their] testosterone levels significantly increased and ... were within a cisgender male range,
- [their[ muscle mass had increased and was within the same range as transgender female individuals [(MTF trans) who'd not received CSHT].
In relation to [MTF trans] individuals, [G&B] found
- testosterone levels had significantly reduced to castration levels after 1 year of cross-sex hormone treatment[:]
- muscle mass ... reduced after 1 year of [CSHT].
- muscle mass remained significantly greater than in [FTM trans] individuals...who had not [received CSHT].
[G&B] concluded [FTM trans] individuals are likely to be able to compete without an athletic advantage 1-year post-cross-sex hormone treatment. To a certain extent, this also applies to [MTF trans] individuals.
...Many, but not all, [MTF trans] individuals [receive] testosterone [(T)] blockers to help them to reach cisgender female [T] levels, when administration of oestrogen alone [inadequately lowers T] levels. This [matters] if the person aims to undergo [sex-change] surgery, as [such procedures require] 6 months of [T] suppression. However, if [MTF trans folks eschew] surgery or [having] their [T] blocked to cisgender female levels ..., their [T] levels will be above cisgender female levels. Differentiating not only between those taking cross-sex hormones and not taking cross-sex hormones, but also [MTF trans] individuals taking [T] blockers, may be necessary when discussing an athletic advantage.
Therefore , provided s/he receives CSHT appropriate to his/her target sex, as an MTF trans person does not constitute cheating.
- AFAIK:Therefore an MTF trans athlete's status as such doesn't constitute cheating, nor does it inspire such athletes to cheat.
- The rules of no sport designate that "being an MTF trans person" constitutes cheating or any form of rules violation; thus, MTF trans athletes are not cheating.
- MTF trans athletes do not represent themselves as cisgender athletes; thus they aren't cheating by way of misrepresenting the fact of their trans status.
- MTF trans athletes do not take actions to alter their competitors' ability to participate.
(If you know any of the above three bulleted assertions to be preponderantly inaccurate, please cite the methodologically sound research that shows so.)
Point #1 above shows there is no physiological advantage associated with being an MTF trans athlete. Line #2 asserts "presumption of innocence" behavioral traits that, absent proof to the contrary, it's reasonable to accept as true. Given points 1 and 2, the unqualified claim "participation of transgender women in elite female sporting competitions [is] 'cheating'" is false.
Now what are you going to say? That the above -- like the article you cited and the research articles it references -- is too long and you won't read it? It won't surprise me if you do, for it appears you didn't read my earlier post and you concurred with Martina's unqualified assertion.
