This is my post to @LinkedIn, if any of you are over there. I hope, though doubt, that @SportandRights will pay some attention. It's pretty shameless, and devalues any contribution that they might want to make in other areas where rights are infringed or violated in sport.
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Tomorrow sees a session on Gender Eligibility at the @SportandRights conference in London. Sadly, they don't want a balanced panel or serious discussion. Here's the line-up:
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The results coming in from Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska and Washington are terrific. When TRA demands are open to scrutiny, they're rejected. Congrats to all.
The remaining question is: which Democrats are democrats? (plenty, I'm sure)
And which are Brechtian Stalinists?
The remaining question is: which Democrats are democrats? (plenty, I'm sure)
And which are Brechtian Stalinists?
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Enjoyed the London launch of this tonight. Thanks to @FAAntisemitism, @bindelj, @sleeepysandy @centre_as @DavidHirsh and others. Couple of thoughts on the train...
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Here's the section, which follows an account of the work of @FondOfBeetles on Pool and diffference in strength at the break
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and puts some of the credit in the right place, adknowledging @Martina and @sharrond62 for providing 'broad commensical opposition' ...
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Here's a somewhat interestingly wrong paper (OA) in Sports, Ethics and Philosophy which earns a🧵 (link at the end). It's from @MichaelSabres14, an occaisional sparring partner here, do don't be abusive, please.
It opens:
It opens:
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Update: Steve lost the byelection to the Greens.
The by-election was caused by the resignation of Milla Gauge.
pshebrighton.org/in-the-news/mi…
The by-election was caused by the resignation of Milla Gauge.
pshebrighton.org/in-the-news/mi…
As a member of @bhlabour I want to say clearly that I think Steve is wrong.
Being 'trans positive' is pretty meaningless, but the argument about sex and gender is not 'merely a political football'. Some of the local issues are:
1) The scandal of WellBN - harming teenagers in the city - but supported by the City Council.
2) The absence of same sex (women only) provision for victims of rape and sexual violence.
3) Implementation of the law, following the EHRC guidance including within council facilities
4) Female only sport in the city's schools: council policy deprives girls of the right to fair sport
5) Internally and procedurally, the undemocratic hostility shown to Cllrs Thompson and Gauge who raised criticism of the labour group's stance and were sidelined and ignored.
6) The likely illegal 'trans tool kit' which has been abandoned by many other councils.
7) Plans for mixed changing - a changing village - in the replacement for the King Alfred Centre, contrary to best practice and legal precedent.
These are concrete, serious issues with which the Council will have to grapple. You can't close them off with meaningless declarations of solidarity. I am disturbed by the lack of honesty and accountability in party circles about these matters.
In raising these concerns I am largely motivated by concerns for the Labour administration, which I otherwise support. We have lost all three councillors in Queens Park, and, even though peopel are whistling to keep our spiritis up, I'm not confident about the result of the byelection.
A failure to think through policy, and to have open and honest discussion of these matters is deeply damaging.
The background for the byelection is here: pshebrighton.org/in-the-news/mi…
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... But here's the non-barking dog. In this, the IOC official report on online harassment at Paris, neither Imane Khelif nor Lin Yu Ting are mentioned.
There is no mention of 'misgendering'.
Under the 'LGBTQ+ rubric they talk about homophobic language ...
There is no mention of 'misgendering'.
Under the 'LGBTQ+ rubric they talk about homophobic language ...
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Here, for example is some particularly terrible reporting from @CNN , and a report of the IOC's position.
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And with boring predictability, the journo responsible responds as you would expect.
Althouigh it's a little annoying, overall I'm quite content with this approach from the opponents of fairness for women's sport. Publish incoherent, inaccurate articles, smear your opponents as to argument, ignore your critics, double down and block.
Because that's working so well to win the policy argument, isn't it?
Carry on.
Althouigh it's a little annoying, overall I'm quite content with this approach from the opponents of fairness for women's sport. Publish incoherent, inaccurate articles, smear your opponents as to argument, ignore your critics, double down and block.
Because that's working so well to win the policy argument, isn't it?
Carry on.
So, today's @ObserverUK didn't publish any letters in response to that painful article last week attacking the WTA sex testing policy.
Even this one, apparently.
Shame, because I think it's spot on. 🤔
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So, today's @ObserverUK didn't publish any letters in response to that painful article last week attacking the WTA sex testing policy.
Even this one, apparently.
Shame, because I think it's spot on. 🤔
Even this one, apparently.
Shame, because I think it's spot on. 🤔
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And, of course, the corollary. The 'more than 8k signatures' should be completely ignored. They count for *absolutely* nothing. 'Jean', 'Martin', 'Brenda' and 'Christine', if they exist, are wasting their time and ours. They are just handing over their email addresses to the ng emails.
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... the letter raises concerns about CAS arbitration given the "permanent" nature of decisions. But this goes back to the point about the female category being a sex category.
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... and this bit is just nuts. 'Let's pretend there's no scientific consensus, because we find the consensus uncomfortable.'
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... The letter treats the variability of male advantage across sports as if it were important or decisive. But that only matters if the female category is a performance category — admission by demonstrated advantage or 'performance gating'
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... and the UN letter makes the weird claim that the Policy "leaves no real or viable choice" to the athlete:
Every eligibility rule in sport is a condition of entry, not a means of coercion. A boxer tries to make weight. If the boxer fails, then they are ineligible. That's not tion — it's what a category is.
Every eligibility rule in sport is a condition of entry, not a means of coercion. A boxer tries to make weight. If the boxer fails, then they are ineligible. That's not tion — it's what a category is.
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On testing itself, the letter says the Policy "reinstates the abandoned practice of mandatory sex testing":
This is a one-time cheek swab (or blood draw). Athletes already submit to more invasive anti-doping testing routinely.
This is a one-time cheek swab (or blood draw). Athletes already submit to more invasive anti-doping testing routinely.
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...The UN letter wants "individualised, sport-specific assessment" instead of a blanket rule:
But neither fairness nor safety can be secured one athlete at a time. That's not a marginal refinement — it's the abandonment of the category of women's sport.
But neither fairness nor safety can be secured one athlete at a time. That's not a marginal refinement — it's the abandonment of the category of women's sport.
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... the letter complains that the IOC has abandoned the 'Framework Document' and wonders why this happened. This is why:
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... and in the meantime, men should play in female sport so as to be kind to them
Here's Yannis Pitsiladis, in a paper published last month:
Here's Yannis Pitsiladis, in a paper published last month:
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A few people expressed consternation of my apparent endorsement of the term 'Trans Youth'.
There's a very interesting Youtube video on exactly this topic presented by @_CryMiaRiver with @byrne_a and Moti Gorin. Recommended.
youtube.com/watch?v=NGFru6…
There's a very interesting Youtube video on exactly this topic presented by @_CryMiaRiver with @byrne_a and Moti Gorin. Recommended.
youtube.com/watch?v=NGFru6…
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... But, well, life comes at you fast. The paper was written in January this year, but was published in June, after the new IOC policy was announced. This gives it a historic and poignant character. Here's what Pitsialdis recommends:
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... Second, he expresses the view that the presence of a male in the women's competition at Paris did not add any 'meaningful dimension' to the safety risk posed to people like Angela Carini. ...
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... He has a quite a go at the Framework document, which is a bit rich, given that he put his name to the position statement endorsing it.
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... And he is cross with the IOC: He thinks that the now discredited and abandoned Framework Document in 2021 should have been imposed on International Federations. ...
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... and it contains some of the usual weird claims associated with Pitsiladis. For example, he seems to sugges that being male has no correlation to performance.
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I live down the road from WellBN and know some of the people involved in this. I have gnc kids who grew up in BandH (who were not affected). It's effing horrific, and @BrightonHoveCC has turned a blind eye.
Please read the whole thing which @nickwallis links to.
Please read the whole thing which @nickwallis links to.
NHS Gender Doctors Harmed Children
(my take on the report into WellBN published today)
genderblog.net/nhs-gender-doc…
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This is a small update, and I like it. I think you can almost hear the sighs of exasperation from Lausanne in this part: ...
The Frequently Asked Questions page on the IOC Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women’s) Category in Olympic Sport has been updated, with additional questions and answers:
olympics.com/ioc/athletes/m…
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... The relevant science then, and the relevant philosophy, is not directly to do with sports performance, but sex. You can see FIMS go wrong on this right in the first paragraph. ...
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... You can see one of the reasons implicit in the press release. The FIMS approach is to keep insisting on the complexity of factors that promote athletic performance:
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... The new policy is much more in line with the judgments of CAS (especially including Semenya vs IAAF 2018/19) than the old policy.
Here's the bit that you may be sick of me posting ...
Here's the bit that you may be sick of me posting ...
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I'm watching this: it's very good. Ofc, I agree with (my pals) @DerryBanShee and @FondOfBeetles. The discussion of female disadvantage is ethically important. It's interesting, slightly disconcerting (on CAIS), food for thought.
youtube.com/watch?v=d5JBYq…
youtube.com/watch?v=d5JBYq…
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There's a real ethical problem here, because I'm sure there are some good people @Slate.
But this?
This is just false. You are simply lying.
But this?
This is just false. You are simply lying.
The Olympics just succumbed to a ridiculous gender panic. Here’s who it’s really going to hurt. slate.trib.al/5xP1vEjCommunity noteArticle is full of misrepresentations, e.g:
Nobody is "banned" from competing, merely required to do so in the correct sex category
Males, whether they identify as 'trans'/have DSDs or not, have performance advantages over females
Imane Khelif has the SRY gene, so is male
stillmed.olympics.com/media/Document…
lemonde.fr/en/sports/arti…
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IOC Prezzer now going. KC very proud of the policy. Over to Jane Thornton
youtube.com/watch?v=qcwDZ3…
youtube.com/watch?v=qcwDZ3…
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... 'well, if its a choice between an in-practice fair policy and an accurate glossary, then I'll take the policy and let the genderists have the ideological glossary.'
But, would you look at this?🙂
But, would you look at this?🙂
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The 2021 Framework document was one of the worst bits of thinking I've ever read about fairness in sport. I'm no longer a Trotskyist, but 'into the dustbin of history' seems apt.
I'll be opening some fizz later on because of this sentence:
I'll be opening some fizz later on because of this sentence:
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This is the link for the live IOC press conference this afternoon, 15:15 UK time, 16:15 CET:
youtube.com/watch?v=qcwDZ3…
youtube.com/watch?v=qcwDZ3…
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'Gender policing and exclusion harm all women and girls, and undermine the very dignity and fairness the IOC claims to uphold' intones Andrea Florence, keeping a straight face, along with a bunch of activist NGOs.
'non è giusto' says Angela Carini, a female athlete.
I know negiusto
'non è giusto' says Angela Carini, a female athlete.
I know negiusto
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