The way forward, @helenlewis.bsky.social writes, lies in an empathetic compromise “that broadly respects transgender Americans’ sense of their own identity ... in the use of chosen names and pronouns—while acknowledging that in some areas, biology really matters.” - ThreadSky

theatlantic.com • 55 days ago

The way forward, @helenlewis.bsky.social writes, lies in an empathetic compromise “that broadly respects transgender Americans’ sense of their own identity ... in the use of chosen names and pronouns—while acknowledging that in some areas, biology really matters.”

Comments

ruhtrato.bsky.social•54 days ago

Cathal Kelly of the Globe and Mail opened his column recently asking what would have happened if Caitlyn Jenner had transitioned 40yrs earlier. The point of the column itself was that controversy has helped people care about women's sport. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/article-transgender-women-in-elite-competition-was-the-most-polarizing-sports/?utm_source=Shared+Article+Sent+to+User&utm_medium=LinkCopy&utm_campaign=Shared+Web+Article+Links

jackstypewriter.bsky.social•55 days ago

Not one politician on either side proposed any kind of compromise on this.

Nevermind it would take a complete overhaul of Title IX. Nobody mentioned this at all.

The GOP wanted to wage a witch hunt and the Dems refused to recognize honest concerns.

tehlaser.bsky.social•55 days ago

That’s because both sides believe that if they give an inch here, the other side will take a mile. They might even both be right.

jackstypewriter.bsky.social•55 days ago

Common sense left the building long ago.

electricshoehorn.bsky.social•54 days ago

What you call "common sense" is just intuition informed by your personal biases. There was a time when white people believed "common sense" dictated that black people are not fully human.

Ironically this was a very prominent talking point among white suffragettes in the past.

alwaystellthetruth.bsky.social•53 days ago

🤦🏻‍♀️
Darwinists believed that at any rate.

charlottecd.bsky.social•53 days ago

I subscribed to The Atlantic because the Washington Post is being destroyed by Will Lewis. I apparently was insufficiently cautious. We do not need to import British transphobia any more than British corruption. Publishing Helen Lewis's transphobic screeds is deeply irresponsible.

charlottecd.bsky.social•53 days ago

I have already canceled auto renew on my subscription and will not renew unless The Atlantic does the absolute bare minimum to stop fueling the trans suicide crisis.

fightingfascism.bsky.social•54 days ago

This issue is nothing more than political theater. The Right complains but hasn't passed a single law. It could give the power to decide this issue to the female athletes themselves but they don't. Why not? Because they don't actually care about women or athletes. It's about bigotry and points.

penitentronin.bsky.social•54 days ago

The number of child butchering psychopaths on this thread is astonishing. That some would suggest that kids are so firm in their understanding of their identity as to warrant experimental procedures on their body is as wicked and degenerate as it comes.

vishalpajeet.bsky.social•37 days ago

The real goal of the transgender advocates is to legalize sex with children

If kids consent to the mutilation and chemical castration of being transed it logically follows that they could consent to a simple sex act

bitmeister.com•52 days ago

https://bsky.app/profile/bitmeister.com/post/3lciudda2s22i

lisatheeditor.bsky.social•55 days ago

I love The Atlantic, but I LONG for more articles (or even any) that say "What the Right refused to acknowledge about [INSERT PHRASE HERE]"

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

People on the right don’t read the Atlantic. And the purpose of this and other similar articles is to help the left figure out where it went wrong in the last election.

xinrtj.bsky.social•54 days ago

And it’s not remotely true that the Atlantic doesn’t publish articles criticizing the right.

lisatheeditor.bsky.social•54 days ago

I didn’t say they don’t. I am just very weary of that particular formulation of the problem.

lisatheeditor.bsky.social•54 days ago

I still would like to see an analysis of the voting numbers in the election.

rightwingparty.bsky.social•54 days ago

Imagine having your loins practically gutted from you competing with a biological male & nobody cares. Also, one cannot change their "birth" name in the United Slaves of America it always follows you & is accessible anyway...

shoshierules.bsky.social•55 days ago

Next week, if Saquon Barkley rushes for 101 yards, he will beat Eric Dickerson's single season record in 17* games. ED did it in 16* games.

Does anyone even know who came in second to Lia Thomas?

GOP men don't give a crap about Women's sports. Or being fair. House GOP Chairs are 17 white men.

shoshierules.bsky.social•55 days ago

I agree that it is not fair, but if these women think that a few Trans Women are making their life miserable now, just wait until you get out in the real world and see how unfair it really is for women. RBG asked to take your foot off our necks.

shoshierules.bsky.social•55 days ago

GOP men's real issue with Trans Women is that they might find one of them to be a hottie, until they freak out when they realize...what, she was a man?

vernster.bsky.social•55 days ago

I know a bunch of guys that found out the "hard" way in Thailand on R&R.

zaya-o.bsky.social•54 days ago

This is a tricky topic but found this article compelling. I also agree with those saying that this issue doesn't warrant this much attention . . . but it was central to Trump's message in the final days of the campaign.

aarongell.bsky.social•55 days ago

once again the atlantic enlists its very best minds (derogatory) to legitimize a classic right-wing moral panic that is demonizing and actively harming the most marginalized people in our society.
what i wonder is why?

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

Because insisting that transwomen be able to compete with ciswomen is a political disaster that Republicans have and will continue to capitalize on. This battle harms trans people on issues that actually matter.

ivan-boutin.bsky.social•54 days ago

Insisting that transgender a have the right to exist will continue to be a lightning rod for the republican, do the left have to deny their existence for the votes?

andysecher.bsky.social•54 days ago

Not letting transwomen compete in sports against ciswomen is not the same as denying their existence.

aarongell.bsky.social•54 days ago

This seems easy to me. Just draw up a list of hormones and other factors that people believe give an unfair advantage, and test every player regardless of gender presentation.

Objections?

andysecher.bsky.social•54 days ago

That’s not a solution. The hormone tests used now with trans athletes don’t account for the advantages that develop during male puberty.

There is no solution here. Public opinion is not going to change. Republicans seem the reasonable ones on this, even to people otherwise sympathetic.

aarongell.bsky.social•55 days ago

Trans kids are not to blame for the failures of the Democratic Party.

See for example Andy Beshear.

andysecher.bsky.social•54 days ago

Fair point. But Beshear’s veto on sports got overridden. And Dems got absolutely hammered this last cycle on that issue.

I want to protect trans kids on things that matter. I don’t want them to sacrifice them (and others hurt by Republicans) but insisting on sports participation.

aarongell.bsky.social•54 days ago

Yes, there were a lot of ads on the issue and it was incredibly exploitative and cruel. But dems with no message (as you know, they mostly caved on this and everything else) made themselves vulnerable.

As for protecting trans kids, I’m glad to hear that. Talk about what you’re doing!

andysecher.bsky.social•54 days ago

There was no message because its a losing issue. Dems just tried to ignore it. There was no response that would win over the public

michelle1313.bsky.social•52 days ago

lmce.bsky.social•54 days ago

This seems eminently....obvious

josephrobertsonny.bsky.social•55 days ago

It’s an extremely rare issue that bad actors decided to demagogue for votes. It’s not something that should be addressed on a federal level and should be handled locally by people who actually have an interest in the athletes affected.

unpalitroche.bsky.social•45 days ago

Transphobic much? Jfc, there's scientific evidence that trans women athletes don't have this huge advantage on cis athletes. You know who has a huge advantage bc of his biology? Michael Phelps. Should he be stripped of his medals? Tired of this shit.

rvnbf.bsky.social•54 days ago

Not from a right or left or male or female perspective, but from an athlete, “ I’ll play anybody, anytime, anywhere!”

zangerliberia.bsky.social•55 days ago

Ignorance. If you take hormones to grow breasts and become more feminine, there is no "male" advantage. Moreover, are you going to do crotch checks. Just leave trans people alone.

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

Simply not true. If you go through puberty as a male, you will develop differently. The real physical differences between trans and cis women are why this is a losing issue.

zangerliberia.bsky.social•54 days ago

That's why kids need gender care.

ravenlyn.bsky.social•54 days ago

EXACTLY.

cbad5.bsky.social•55 days ago

Those that say they care about women’s sports should be talking way more about the NIL than trans athletes. Money will hurt women’s sports far more than human dignity.

whooitsbella.bsky.social•55 days ago

Trans issues are not where the nation's focus needs to be. It's a distraction.

janes2024.bsky.social•55 days ago

I agree. The way forward is compromise not the further subjugation of women.

viennease.bsky.social•55 days ago

The article ends with a call for compromise that assumes the ability or even the slightest will of the GOP to act in good faith on the national level.

Shouldn't authors at a prestigious magazine have been awake at any point between 2008 and now?

drmke.bsky.social•54 days ago

Atlantic mansplaining to liberals.

Thanks, dweezils!

Any discussion without data just tells us about the authors prejudices.

Thanks again!

andlackthereof.bsky.social•55 days ago

10 Transgender athletes in all the NCAA? Non-issue.

https://thehill.com/homenews/lgbtq/5046662-ncaa-president-transgender-athletes-college-sports/

andlackthereof.bsky.social•55 days ago

Trans women are women. Full stop. This is a non issue.

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

This kind of nonsense is why Trump is won. Its an issue that is going to keep helping elect Republicans and will hurt trans people on issues that actually matter.

panmankey.bsky.social•54 days ago

Disappointed in the lack of context in this article.The alleged trans athlete at SJSU has been playing on the volleyball team since 2022! There were no forfeits by opponents in 22 or 23. Also SJSU was not some dominant juggernaut. They were a middling team. This was a political stunt to dehumanize.

fightingfascism.bsky.social•54 days ago

This issue is all political theater but the media profits off of human suffering so they don't ask the Right why they haven't passed any laws to solve this so called problem.

jingleheimershmidt.bsky.social•55 days ago

There are 520,000 NCAA players and less than 10 are transgender. And you waste time on this BS?

adlemm.bsky.social•55 days ago

Even if you assume that trans women have some enormous advantage in sport, this is still such an insignificant issue that affects so few people, the absolute obsession with this issue in the US can only be understood as a convenient inroad for anti-trans bigotry

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

It affects few people, but the political impact is huge. You’d have far less anti-trans bigotry without this. No one person has done more harm to trans people in recent years than Lia Thomas.

adlemm.bsky.social•55 days ago

The political impact is huge because Americans lack critical thinking skills n are easily duped into buying whatever rightwing panic is being pushed at the moment. If it’s not trans in sport, it’s CRT, or book bans, or migrant caravans, etc. that’s the problem that need solving not trans athletes

andysecher.bsky.social•55 days ago

Good luck solving that problem. We have to work with the electorate we actually have, not the one we wish we had.

andyfunk42.bsky.social•55 days ago

I'll always vote for more inclusive candidates and policies. But it's frustrating when people say this shouldn't even be up for debate. IMHO there are legitimate questions that haven't been adequately addressed. I'd start with:

Why do we have separate competitions for male and female athletes?

lying.bsky.social•55 days ago

Excellent question!

The answer, invariably, is that women out-performed men in a given competition at one time or another, so they were given a separate category to preserve male ego.

This is also only a recent pattern, women competed alongside men in the original Olympics. And even won!

lying.bsky.social•55 days ago

After a few generations of this separation, at most, people started to conclude it was the "natural" condition, that the two be separated. This argument from tradition was then taken as a sacrosanct property of biology, but the reality is that any differences are often more to do with resources.

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