MicroWaveMay 27, 2025

GOP lawmaker left speechless when asked if he's trans during a hearing

https://lemmy.world/post/30328239

GOP lawmaker left speechless when asked if he's trans during a hearing - Lemmy.World

He huffed about how the question wasn’t “appropriate” even though his bill would result in kids being asked that same question. A Republican state rep from Michigan testifying about his anti-trans sports bill on Monday was left speechless after an out Democratic colleague began his questioning by asking, “Representative, can you tell me: are you trans?” A long beat staring down out gay Democratic state Rep. Mike McFall followed, before state Rep. Jason Woolford ® managed to reply, “Are you?” “I’m actually going somewhere with this,” he said to lawmakers in the small chamber. “Because I want to know, how does a 14-year-old girl prove whether or not she’s trans to a 50-year-old coach?”

Show threadJiveTurkeyMay 27, 2025

I guess I’m out of the loop on this subject and honestly I don’t know if the information I have is factual or not.

Do trans women generally have a physical advantage over women? Are there any rules for this kind of thing? Do they need to be transitioning or taking suppression drugs? This is a serious question.

Show threadburgerpocalyseMay 27, 2025

trans people on hormone replacement therapy stop receiving the effects of whatever hormone their body produces naturally. so trans women lose muscle mass, bone density, whatever, and have no benefit from having previously lived as a man.

additionally, im of the opinion that less than 1 percent of child athletes go on to play professional sports, so who gives a shit who is playing who

Show threadturtlesareneatMay 27, 2025
One could argue that having gone through puberty as a male people might have a bigger frame which could be advantageous in some cases (basketball, track) but in my mind, this is more an argument for puberty blockers than against athletics
Show threadWoodScientist
That’s the “big car small engine” problem. If anything, this puts trans women at a disadvantage in many sports. You’re stuck with the large skeleton formed in a male puberty, but now you have female-level musculature moving it. There are many sports where trans women are actually at a disadvantage compared to cis women. To see the absolute absurdity of trans sports bans, consider that they apply to all sports. In what possible universe does a trans woman have an advantage in women’s gymnastics?
May 28, 2025 at 2:13amWeb
Show threadfutatoriusMay 28, 2025

Look, the reasoning is far cruder than that. It actually goes like this:

  • False assumption 1: Men are superior to women.

  • False assumption 2: Trans women are men.

  • False conclusion, based on the false assumptions: Therefore, trans women are superior to cis women, which is cheating.

    • Also the Christian fundies, much like Muslim fundies, are believers in strict gender apartheid, and according to their fallacious assumptions (as I’ve listed above) allowing trans women on teams with cis women would violate that segregation.

    Show threadJiveTurkeyMay 28, 2025
    If all of that is true then why separate men and women in sport at any level?