Poor poor pitiful him

[weathered man]

What follows is Seb Rogers's reply to Hannah Dobson's piece for Singletrackworld, Not In My Name: Trans Athlete Bans. I'm not able to read what must be a handmaiden's lament, so this will have to do.

Hannah, you’ve pretty much mirrored my thoughts on this but, because you’re a cis woman, I think it’s particularly important and significant that you’ve stuck your head over the digital parapet to express them in this way. I salute you.

"Cis".

He salutes her for taking Singletrackworld's editorial line and saying something it takes absolutely no courage in the current media environment to say.

The level of what passes for “debate” around the specific issue of trans athletes competing alongside cis athletes (or not, as the case may be) is, as is the case for the wider “trans debate”, pitifully poor.

To be fair, Seb does show expertise in pitifully poor debate.

Cranked lost subscribers simply for publishing a feature a couple of years back which gave a voice to two trans women who compete at a high level. It was still the right decision to publish. I wrote a brief editorial decrying British Cycling’s new discriminatory, almost certainly unlawful and definitely not science-backed rules in our last issue, and lost a couple more subscribers. Sorry not sorry.

#Stunning&brave

Sport starts from the principle of inclusivity, or it is worthless. The cod “science” about “biological reality” that echoes around social media and even mainstream media outlets is incomplete at best and simplistic claptrap at worst.

"Who are you going to believe, me or your lyin' eyes?"

Ironically (or perhaps not), the UCI and BC bans on trans women competing at a high level will simply help to ensure that our knowledge of trans athletes, and how ther performance may or may not differ from their cis counterparts, will remain partial and incomplete.

Because who cares about women thrown under the bus in the meantime.

But no matter: the transgenders MUST BE BANNED because a. it’s common sense, apparently (it really isn’t, and unless you’re an endocrinologist specialising in researching this area I’m certainly not getting into a discussion about it with you) and b. JUST IN CASE they take over the world.

POPULISTS USE CAPS LOCK.

Transgender women have been eligible to compete in the Olympics for, roughly, 20 years. Tens of thousands of athletes have qualified for the Games in that time. And do you know how many were trans women? Two. Neither of them threatened the medals table (not that that should matter).

Routinely ignored in this argument is that until 2016 trans identifying men had to have undergone genital surgery.

I’m grumpy about this subject because

it undermines my virtue signalling."

it’s part of the creeping intolerance that’s being used as a wedge issue to distract us all from a burning / flooding world and rampant and increasing inequality. As Hannah points out, trans women are not the problem. Not in sport, and not in any context.

Ah, to be the blameless class.

Seb / Cranked magazine

Yet another / cycling dick

on edit
Sorry not sorry Cranked is no longer in print.

[British Cycling]

British Cycling urged to close policy blindspot
after trans riders enter women-only events

British Cycling is committed to ensuring that all riders^[1] feel welcome, supported^[2] and respected^[3] in our sport and activities, and as part of this we ask volunteers to address others in a respectful^[3] way, offering dignity towards those to whom the comments are directed.

1. Men
2. supporting men
3. and showing due regard for the feelings and wishes of... guess who.

Whilst individuals are entitled to hold gender-critical views, that does not give them the unfettered power to voice those views without consequence.

Telling the truth = unfettered power. If only.

Josh Jones Interview

The current goal is to effect policy change and get British Cycling (BC) to update its participation policy to provide a pathway for transgender cyclists to compete authentically^[1]. The justifications BC made public for their current exclusionary^[2] policy demonstrate an inaccurate and incomplete assessment of medical science and fail to appropriately consider the social impacts on the LGBT+ and racing communities.

The biggest issue was the lack of any attempt from BC to inform the cycling community on the nuanced^[3] reality of the scientific and social aspects of transgender inclusion, so that’s what I’m working on now – finding ways to educate and inform groups and individuals. Most of that work necessarily has to happen out of the public view^[4] so that people can feel comfortable engaging confidentially or even anonymously.

1. Inauthentically by definition.
2. Categories must exclude by definition.
3. This word needs to be put out of its misery.
4. We see you.