[quote]By parroting conservatives on sports "fairness," the former secretary of Transportation shouldn't be surprised if trans people and their allies abandon Democrats.
Pete spoke basic, verifiable, and honest truth. Mey Rude doesn't want to admit this, but it is still there. There is no justifiable rationale for allowing men to compete against women in sports. She can quote studies that try to suggest otherwise ("In general, studies find that trans individuals, following gender affirming hormone therapy, become more similar to their gender identity (post-transition) cisgender counterparts, or are somewhere between the expected male and female averages") which we can all see though without difficulty: a human being born male and maturing through puberty will have male characteristics like height, weight, and physical strength that a human being born female and maturing through puberty will not. He can take hormones, s/he can fully transition including surgeries, and she will still be bigger, faster and stronger than cis female competitors. See: Lia Thomas.
Mey wants to draw comparisons between trans and blacks and other minorities and the discrimination they faced, which is comparing apples and oranges. And I get it, there are similarities when you look at it as denying a human being the ability to live their life openly, honestly and without discrimination — but that's not the same as saying a trans woman competing against cis women doesn't have a distinct advantage. Let me put it this way: I can claim I'm black, I can alter my appearance and adopt the language and mannerisms of blacks, but I am not Black. When it comes to professional sports, my argument is akin to saying I support the NAACP, but I will never be its president.
More on point, I've argued before that we do not allow college athletes compete against high school athletes; we do not find it sportsman like or [italic]fair[/italic] when an NFL team competes against a college football squad; so much so that I don't think you could find a single person in the country who would suggest that pitting mature, skilled and fully developed men against boys is in any way on a level playing field.
And so here we are after the 2024 election having learned nothing in which a silly queer singer refused to endorse Kamala because she, Kamala, recognized the reality that if we cram trans people in sports down 99.4% of the populations' throat, we will [bold]never[/bold] win. I say again the most effective campaign ad from both parties was Trump's simple "Kamala is for they/them, I am for YOU" which alone moved the needle by over 2 points in his favor. So, Ms, Roan, was it smart to deny Kamala your endorsement, or is the resulting Trump Administration that has rolled back everyone's rights, better for trans?
Sometimes you have to accept that the bus line you're on doesn't reach your destination, but it does put you within the same geographic location whereas pouting over the fact that the bus driver won't make an exception for you and drive directly to your destination so blocking everyone else from getting on the bus only prevents everyone from being brought closer to their destination.
Trans folk are making the perfect be the enemy of the good. I would hope that they could see that, but if we believe Mey Rude, they do not. The risk that they run is that if they withhold their support from Democrats, they are likely to find themselves in a far worse place, and may very well find themselves left out of any coalition altogether.
