I appreciate a report of cisgender athletes sticking their neck out for us.
"This has had dire consequences the last few times it was deployed against women’s athletes. From 1992 to 1999, cisgender women were forced into testing and found out, on the world stage, that they had intersex conditions they never knew about. The spectacle led to ostracization, disqualification, and at least one suicide before such testing was abolished."
I hope that last is not repeated !!! The IOC already knew how to ensure MtF athletes could compete in Women's categories without any remnant "masculine" advantage, and that was 2004 to 2018 inclusively -- require 2 contiguous years of effective HRT before competing in women's categories. This also makes it "fair" for cisgender women athletes who have an intersex condition of any sort raising their blood testosterone above cisgender typoical levels.
I do have to wonder, has the work been done to determine the standard deviation of T blood levels in Olympic level cisgender women athletes? How high should it have to be before a medical intervention is ruled to be required?
"“They sort of like, lost the battle on gay marriage,” Rapinoe said."
And no question of it, if they don't lose hard enough over transgender issues, they will next level all their political guns to reverse that loss.
True enough. But the reactionaries have already legitimized the notion "transgender = drag queen = sex" and it's not that far a reach to reprising "disgusting" descriptions of "disgusting" gay/lesbian sex of the sort I remember from not that many decades ago.
The LGB/noT crowd should remember that Martin Niemöller's poem is not just about Germany.
Female athletes, whether cis or trans, should refuse en masse to take these tests, out of fear of privacy violations, possible misuse of the genetic material, and the fact that it’s misogynistic, applying only to women and not men.
So what if the majority of female athletes just basically said, you do this, we are not competing. So far everything the IOC does is taken as gospel. Maybe that “gospel “ needs to be see as fiction.
Great article -- thank you. “If you crack this door open, it gets blown open...." Absolutely right. And the targeting will not stop with women. Fuckers are coming for us all, one way or another. Thanks, SB.
Thanks, Meg and Sue! You bring reality to bear on this ridiculous and relentless pursuit to villainize a very small number of harmless and decent people. It’s politico-religious distraction, but it works. That’s why they continue to do it. Your voices are greatly appreciated. 💕
Second, as a biologist, this (frankly deliberate) misunderstanding of basic genetics angers me to no end.
Third, I was shocked to learn this was already tried in the 90's; I am less shocked that it is being tried again despite its utter failure the first time.
I'm quite surprised how much Mom's childhood experiences parallel those of trans boys. At first I thought it was an intentional rhetorical setup, but she never really went anywhere with it.
Yes! More of this! More famous LGB people sticking up for the T! Don't fall for the right wing's divide-and-conquer bullshit. It's the same pack of lies they used against every other marginalized community; they've just filed off the serial numbers again.
“If you crack this door open, it gets blown open. You’re now policing women’s bodies across the board.”
💯 people miss this all the time. It has never been about "protecting women's sports", it has always been about policing women. Trans people are the sacrificial lamb towards implementing broader patriarchal oppression.
I congratulate the podcast A Touch More and the all-star athletes who have spoken out against the IOC’s decision to subject all women athletes to mandatory testing. This policy is not about fairness — it is rooted in sexism and discrimination that unfairly targets women’s bodies and dignity.
Women athletes deserve respect, inclusion, and policies grounded in science and human rights, not suspicion and exclusion. Speaking up against harmful decisions like this is exactly how sports move forward — by protecting athletes, not policing them.
"The anti-trans policy will subject athletes competing in the women’s division—and only women’s, not men’s—to invasive sex testing..." This is blatant overt discrimination not only against trans women but women in general by the IOC driven by bigoted hate-based politics and nothing else. Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird know the end goal of these policies isn't just sports focused but a broader attack on women's social rights and freedoms.
The IOC’s new testing rule is invasive, unscientific, and dangerous. We’ve already seen what happens when women — cis, trans, and intersex — are forced into these humiliating procedures. It destroys careers, isolates people, and reinforces the idea that womanhood is something to be “verified” rather than lived.
This isn’t fairness. It’s policing.
I’m grateful for Erin’s reporting and for advocates like Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird who refuse to let this slide under the radar. Their courage helps push back against policies rooted in fear, not evidence.
To trans athletes everywhere: you deserve safety, dignity, and the right to compete without being treated as a threat. You belong in sport, full stop.
Glad to hear someone with her kind of profile saying something
TY, Baum.
I appreciate a report of cisgender athletes sticking their neck out for us.
"This has had dire consequences the last few times it was deployed against women’s athletes. From 1992 to 1999, cisgender women were forced into testing and found out, on the world stage, that they had intersex conditions they never knew about. The spectacle led to ostracization, disqualification, and at least one suicide before such testing was abolished."
I hope that last is not repeated !!! The IOC already knew how to ensure MtF athletes could compete in Women's categories without any remnant "masculine" advantage, and that was 2004 to 2018 inclusively -- require 2 contiguous years of effective HRT before competing in women's categories. This also makes it "fair" for cisgender women athletes who have an intersex condition of any sort raising their blood testosterone above cisgender typoical levels.
I do have to wonder, has the work been done to determine the standard deviation of T blood levels in Olympic level cisgender women athletes? How high should it have to be before a medical intervention is ruled to be required?
"“They sort of like, lost the battle on gay marriage,” Rapinoe said."
And no question of it, if they don't lose hard enough over transgender issues, they will next level all their political guns to reverse that loss.
Also, first !!!
"they will next level all their political guns to reverse that loss"
They already are. The "LGB without the T" folks who think they're safe are fools.
"The "LGB without the T" folks who think they're safe are fools."
They are. I do think that attacking us is distracting some of the SoCons efforts from that though . . .
True enough. But the reactionaries have already legitimized the notion "transgender = drag queen = sex" and it's not that far a reach to reprising "disgusting" descriptions of "disgusting" gay/lesbian sex of the sort I remember from not that many decades ago.
The LGB/noT crowd should remember that Martin Niemöller's poem is not just about Germany.
Female athletes, whether cis or trans, should refuse en masse to take these tests, out of fear of privacy violations, possible misuse of the genetic material, and the fact that it’s misogynistic, applying only to women and not men.
Yeah, I was going to say this as well!
So what if the majority of female athletes just basically said, you do this, we are not competing. So far everything the IOC does is taken as gospel. Maybe that “gospel “ needs to be see as fiction.
The reasons to boycott the Olympics keep stacking
Great article -- thank you. “If you crack this door open, it gets blown open...." Absolutely right. And the targeting will not stop with women. Fuckers are coming for us all, one way or another. Thanks, SB.
Thanks, Meg and Sue! You bring reality to bear on this ridiculous and relentless pursuit to villainize a very small number of harmless and decent people. It’s politico-religious distraction, but it works. That’s why they continue to do it. Your voices are greatly appreciated. 💕
First, I love these two, true icons!
Second, as a biologist, this (frankly deliberate) misunderstanding of basic genetics angers me to no end.
Third, I was shocked to learn this was already tried in the 90's; I am less shocked that it is being tried again despite its utter failure the first time.
Talking Politics with Mom discussed this in a way I thought might help us bridge folks. I had never heard of “nude parades”!!
https://youtu.be/45CwehqDkvY?si=_ksi_21esAKfTx-w
I'm quite surprised how much Mom's childhood experiences parallel those of trans boys. At first I thought it was an intentional rhetorical setup, but she never really went anywhere with it.
Yes! More of this! More famous LGB people sticking up for the T! Don't fall for the right wing's divide-and-conquer bullshit. It's the same pack of lies they used against every other marginalized community; they've just filed off the serial numbers again.
“If you crack this door open, it gets blown open. You’re now policing women’s bodies across the board.”
💯 people miss this all the time. It has never been about "protecting women's sports", it has always been about policing women. Trans people are the sacrificial lamb towards implementing broader patriarchal oppression.
I congratulate the podcast A Touch More and the all-star athletes who have spoken out against the IOC’s decision to subject all women athletes to mandatory testing. This policy is not about fairness — it is rooted in sexism and discrimination that unfairly targets women’s bodies and dignity.
Women athletes deserve respect, inclusion, and policies grounded in science and human rights, not suspicion and exclusion. Speaking up against harmful decisions like this is exactly how sports move forward — by protecting athletes, not policing them.
"The anti-trans policy will subject athletes competing in the women’s division—and only women’s, not men’s—to invasive sex testing..." This is blatant overt discrimination not only against trans women but women in general by the IOC driven by bigoted hate-based politics and nothing else. Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird know the end goal of these policies isn't just sports focused but a broader attack on women's social rights and freedoms.
"cram unscientific ideas about gender and sex into manmade, binary boundaries"
The parenthetical phrase "(the word was chosen deliberately)" should have been inserted right before the comma.
Okay, maybe it was just expected we'd do that on our own, but y'know, just in case....
The IOC’s new testing rule is invasive, unscientific, and dangerous. We’ve already seen what happens when women — cis, trans, and intersex — are forced into these humiliating procedures. It destroys careers, isolates people, and reinforces the idea that womanhood is something to be “verified” rather than lived.
This isn’t fairness. It’s policing.
I’m grateful for Erin’s reporting and for advocates like Megan Rapinoe and Sue Bird who refuse to let this slide under the radar. Their courage helps push back against policies rooted in fear, not evidence.
To trans athletes everywhere: you deserve safety, dignity, and the right to compete without being treated as a threat. You belong in sport, full stop.
The IOC used crappy, debunked pseudoscience anyway. Every one on that committee has to be called out, sued and publicly embarrassed