ah, it’s come to my attention that a certain author is retweeting again, this time on the topic of trans people and sports! happens to be a personal pet peeve, the trans people and sports discourse, tho i am not myself what you might call athletic. a couple of things:

first: the issues bigoted cis people hammer on regarding trans people are often the ones where the existence of trans people has revealed that something cis people have done for generations was deeply flawed in the first place lmao. it is a shockingly reliable little rule.

whichever way you break out the argument “trans people ruin sports,” once you’ve laid it all out it’s like. what?? you think WHAT?? but it’s one of the ones that can easily get people who don’t know better, so allow me to do that breaking out now:

“trans people ruin sports because MAN bodies are stronger than WOMAN bodies & that’s just science” listen. the human experience is large & contains multitudes. there are cis women built like mac trucks, and cis men who look made of matchsticks. despite this, the world still turns

“but big bad trans people will HURT innocent cis players if allowed to Sport,” what?? sorry, but that seems like the kind of thing you could solve with some basic rules — such as “don’t hit people in the head,” and “do not body slam,” — that already exist in a number of sports,

(ps if the sport you’re afraid trans people will ruin doesn’t have rules to keep people from hurting each other, why are you only afraid trans players will hurt cis ones? do you not think a cis person can damage another cis person? do you think they’re like opposing magnets?)

“it’s not FAIR for someone trans to play bc they might be PHYSICALLY DIFFERENT from the cis players” hey ALL the players are physically different from one another? they all have strengths & weaknesses based on the skills & muscles they’ve spent years developing? that’s uh sports

“but cis female athletes are so dEliCaTe” yikes; listen to yourself. no they’re not!!! by and large they’re brilliant, talented, and incredibly strong, just like cis male athletes. being an athlete on even a semi-professional level is very difficult??? your sexism is showing???

“i shouldn’t have to think about trans stuff regarding sports! i just want to watch games in peace!” yeah well i’d love to be able to go to the toilet outside of my own home without worrying about encountering transphobic violence, life is not always a joy

“discriminating against trans people in sports ensures the safety of cis people!” no, it hurts cis ppl too. plenty of cis folks who don’t conform to gender norms — whether by choice or by nature — play sports, you‘re putting them in hell for the benefit of [checks notes] nothing

(intersex people also exist! these rules punish them unnecessarily, and for truly, truly nothing. no matter how hard you try to tell yourself otherwise, even if you remove trans and nonbinary folks from the equation, sex and gender still isn’t always clear cut.)

“it’ll be OBVIOUS who the trans athletes are and it will OBVIOUSLY affect the game” my dude, madame, or otherwise, i promise you that you have met a trans person without knowing it. i promise you. you do not know what you’re talking about and you’re making yourself look absurd.

“i’m 6’2” & a MAN, if i slam into a little GIRL while playing rugby i’ll CRUSH HER SPINE TO DUST” ah yes of course. her little girlspine will crumble to ash at your touch. but obviously the other cis men who you collide w/ have spines made of Hammered Steel, as all cis men do

seriously: if you think it’s not safe for trans people to play a sport, maybe it’s not safe for ANYONE to play that sport as it’s currently played? these are GAMES, folks. they’re games. they mean a lot to a lot of people & i’m not trying to discount that, but they are games.

american football, played largely by cis men, regularly causes horrifying brain injuries (so does hockey)! some studies show the probability of being hurt in a rugby game is up to 90%. i, for one, think that could be improved! https://www.popsci.com/how-dangerous-is-football-cte/

& this is what i mean when i say the issues that often come up are ones where trans people merely existing reveals a problem in something cis people have been doing for years. it makes some cis people FURIOUS at us, but we’re just chilling? not our fault you made shit this way.

trans people aren’t trying to Ruin Sports (or anything else). we’re just trying to live. we just want the same rights as everyone else! & if that goal — rights for everyone — is incompatible with an existing institution? maybe... that institution... kind of.... sucks?

like maybe it’s not great, you know, that we as a society invented all these gender-segregated violence games?? and then decided we loved them so much that they can NEVER be changed?? even if changing them might help a lot of athletes’ health, brains, or human rights?

i’m genuinely not trying to hate on sports here, to be clear. i understand, though it’s largely not for me, that sports are about tradition and history, and childhood memories, and team spirit, and collective joy, as much if not more as they’re about the rules and score.

but when on one side, it’s, “tell people to hide/suppress who they are or be banned from participating in what they love,” & on the other side it’s “let them join, & if necessary make some safety changes for everyone?” then “BAN THEM! NO SAFETY!!” isn’t the moral high ground

as a final note: here’s an article i think/worry about a lot re: the dangers of football for kids. since these anti-trans folks always seem so concerned about the safety of children, thought i’d throw it in! something to think about https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/children-tackle-football-and-the-possible-dangers-of-brain-diseases/2019/08/16/5435832a-b2f8-11e9-951e-de024209545d_story.html