Sport: Inclusion vs. Equity
As I like both sports and complicated debates, I have already told you about Lia Thomas.
Lia Thomas is this American swimmer, born male, who competes in the women's category and triumphs by huge margins.
Thomas never had surgery and delayed his hormone treatment after puberty for fear of harming his performance.
Unfair
I argued at the time that inclusion should not come at the expense of equity.
A radio show and some activists had retaliated, invoking "the anecdote", the "isolated case" or my conservatism.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has just reached the same conclusion as I have.
Trans swimmers will now be prohibited from competing in women's events if the change of identity occurred after puberty.
One of the experts consulted by FINA, Dr. Sandra Hunter, explains:
"Some of the benefits that men gain at puberty are 'structural' and are not lost with hormone suppression. [...] This includes larger lungs and hearts, longer bones, larger feet and hands."
FINA is now considering adding an "open" category to the men's and women's categories.
Trans athletes would have the choice between the "open" category or the men's category.
In short, we gradually realize that ideology does not dismiss biology, and that the concern for inclusion, a noble ideal, can lead to injustices.
Obviously, we would not be where we are if there were not a massive confusion between sex, gender and gender identity.
This confusion persists out of ignorance and because it is maintained by militant lobbies.
Sex is a binary and immutable biological reality: there are only two basic sex cells (eggs and sperm) also called gametes, and surgery or any other treatment does not change this.
Gender is the stereotypes constructed by society, such as saying that a man "should not cry"
or that a woman will be "emotional" or "manipulative".
These stereotypes change over time and vary across cultures.
Gender identity is how a person positions himself in relation to these social stereotypes, choosing to be "macho", "tomboy", "poupoune", etc.
In the world of education, it has become risky to recall these truths or to objectively present the arguments of those who do not approve of all the demands of the trans lobbies.
Progress
An example of confusion? The last federal census asked respondents what gender they were "assigned at birth."
Error! Biological sex is not assigned, it is found. It is not a decision or a choice.
Activists would like to bring everything back to the sincere feeling: we are what we want.
Could a man-born person "feel" his femininity with enough intensity to be able to bear a child and give birth?
There is no lasting progress in the intellectual confusion and negation of science.
Lia Thomas is this American swimmer, born male, who competes in the women's category and triumphs by huge margins.
Thomas never had surgery and delayed his hormone treatment after puberty for fear of harming his performance.
Unfair
I argued at the time that inclusion should not come at the expense of equity.
A radio show and some activists had retaliated, invoking "the anecdote", the "isolated case" or my conservatism.
The International Swimming Federation (FINA) has just reached the same conclusion as I have.
Trans swimmers will now be prohibited from competing in women's events if the change of identity occurred after puberty.
One of the experts consulted by FINA, Dr. Sandra Hunter, explains:
"Some of the benefits that men gain at puberty are 'structural' and are not lost with hormone suppression. [...] This includes larger lungs and hearts, longer bones, larger feet and hands."
FINA is now considering adding an "open" category to the men's and women's categories.
Trans athletes would have the choice between the "open" category or the men's category.
In short, we gradually realize that ideology does not dismiss biology, and that the concern for inclusion, a noble ideal, can lead to injustices.
Obviously, we would not be where we are if there were not a massive confusion between sex, gender and gender identity.
This confusion persists out of ignorance and because it is maintained by militant lobbies.
Sex is a binary and immutable biological reality: there are only two basic sex cells (eggs and sperm) also called gametes, and surgery or any other treatment does not change this.
Gender is the stereotypes constructed by society, such as saying that a man "should not cry"
or that a woman will be "emotional" or "manipulative".
These stereotypes change over time and vary across cultures.
Gender identity is how a person positions himself in relation to these social stereotypes, choosing to be "macho", "tomboy", "poupoune", etc.
In the world of education, it has become risky to recall these truths or to objectively present the arguments of those who do not approve of all the demands of the trans lobbies.
Progress
An example of confusion? The last federal census asked respondents what gender they were "assigned at birth."
Error! Biological sex is not assigned, it is found. It is not a decision or a choice.
Activists would like to bring everything back to the sincere feeling: we are what we want.
Could a man-born person "feel" his femininity with enough intensity to be able to bear a child and give birth?
There is no lasting progress in the intellectual confusion and negation of science.
