23 votes

Florida’s new transgender sports ban permits schools to require "routine sports physical examination" of the students' genitals, genetic makeup, and testosterone levels

11 comments

  1. NoblePath
    Link
    Seriously, man, this is some a-level gas lighting. Hoo, boy! I am a reasonably fit male who would be whipped by just about any division 1 female college athlete. I’d bet money not a single male...

    sanctity of women’s athletics

    Seriously, man, this is some a-level gas lighting. Hoo, boy! I am a reasonably fit male who would be whipped by just about any division 1 female college athlete.

    I’d bet money not a single male supporter of this bill could outrun the slowest female competitor.

    16 votes
  2. [10]
    Kuromantis
    Link

    Florida's House of Representatives has passed a bill that would prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports in schools and colleges, while also subjecting students to "physical examination" if their gender was disputed.

    The HB 1475 bill, entitled Fairness in Women's Sports Act, passed the State House on Wednesday with a 77-40 vote largely along party lines. All Democrats opposed the bill but one.

    Republican members claim the bill would protect the sanctity of female sports by preventing transgender athletes from participating. But critics say this latest attempt would further lead to the "bullying" of transgender students.

    It allows for "routine sports physical examination" of the students' genitals, genetic makeup, and testosterone levels.

    The bill will now go to the Republican-led Senate in Florida. Dozens of similar bills have been proposed in state legislatures across the US.

    "I ask that you read this bill and recognize the threat to privacy and lack of legal protection potentially facing female athletes," Andrew Coleman, a transgender man and student at Florida State University, said during a press conference, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

    "Read this bill and recognise the perpetuating harm this legislation has to kids who just want to live."

    10 votes
    1. [4]
      Octofox
      Link Parent
      Does anyone think that maybe the Americans are taking school sports a little too seriously? In Australia when I did school sports the end result wasn't really that important and no one would...

      Does anyone think that maybe the Americans are taking school sports a little too seriously? In Australia when I did school sports the end result wasn't really that important and no one would bother to cheat let alone go to such lengths to investigate perceived cheating. It was just a physical activity you did with your friends from school with a fun aim of winning some games.

      20 votes
      1. [2]
        DanBC
        Link Parent
        They don't care about making sport more fair. They care about making life harder for transpeople.

        They don't care about making sport more fair. They care about making life harder for transpeople.

        24 votes
        1. wedgel
          Link Parent
          Not just transpeople. They can also fuck with and degrade cis girls just by claiming they're trans. It's disgusting.

          Not just transpeople. They can also fuck with and degrade cis girls just by claiming they're trans. It's disgusting.

          14 votes
      2. Ellimist
        Link Parent
        Americans, by and large, do take sports way to seriously. I live in Texas where American Football is pretty much next to religion in terms of importance to a lot of people. If you ever have the...

        Americans, by and large, do take sports way to seriously.

        I live in Texas where American Football is pretty much next to religion in terms of importance to a lot of people.

        If you ever have the time, give the movie, Friday Night Lights, or it's spin off TV show by the same name a watch. It's exaggerated but only slightly. Texas has high school football stadiums that can fit thousands of people and a few of them cost millions upon millions of dollars to build.

        When I played, 2002-2006, there were rumors that one of the schools in our district was illegally recruiting middle school kids to play for them but since it kept our area significant, the school district looked the other way. That's just rumor that was never substantiated but it did seem suspicious that the school in question seemed to get all the best local talent even when there high schools closer or those kids would up and move to get within that schools district.

        15 votes
    2. [5]
      teaearlgraycold
      Link Parent
      How do you approve a bill with a provision for schools to inspect children's genitals and think you're doing something right?

      How do you approve a bill with a provision for schools to inspect children's genitals and think you're doing something right?

      18 votes
      1. post_below
        Link Parent
        Replying as though this is a real question even though it's probably rhetorical... Because you believe transgender kids are confused or delusional and shouldn't exist in the first place. If it's...

        Replying as though this is a real question even though it's probably rhetorical...

        Because you believe transgender kids are confused or delusional and shouldn't exist in the first place. If it's their genitals that are being inspected it's ok because they are other.

        Which is awful. And also, we all know people who have reacted irrationally to change they don't understand. They shouldn't be allowed to make laws, ideally, but they aren't impossible to empathize with.

        And neither is it impossible for them to empathize. Whatever group they happen to be against, they're either secretly a part of, or it just hasn't been humanized for them yet.

        Except for whatever percentage of them are psychopaths, with is definitely nonzero.

        10 votes
      2. [3]
        Kuromantis
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        From this post in political compass memes "Sports people need to show their genitals (this is implied of course) in the form of physicals anyway, so this bill is nothing much." "It says...

        From this post in political compass memes

        "Sports people need to show their genitals (this is implied of course) in the form of physicals anyway, so this bill is nothing much."

        "It says examination, not inspection."

        "Their gender can be confirmed by a medical official so all you need is a doctor's note, which is what trans people will just go get when this goes into effect."

        There's also the more common claim that trans women maintain male muscle growth after transitioning, so letting them participate in women's sports is unfair, albeit it doesn't address the inspections part.

        3 votes
        1. [2]
          teaearlgraycold
          Link Parent
          Shouldn't that be handled by a system like weight classes? IMO dividing sports by sex or gender isn't interesting on its own. It's only useful in that it allows for more people to compete on even...

          There's also the more common claim that trans women maintain male muscle growth after transitioning, so letting them participate in women's sports is unfair, albeit it doesn't address the inspections part.

          Shouldn't that be handled by a system like weight classes? IMO dividing sports by sex or gender isn't interesting on its own. It's only useful in that it allows for more people to compete on even ground.

          4 votes
          1. Kuromantis
            Link Parent
            Personally I think it depends on whether you view Olympic sports as people competing for the sake of competing vs pushing their bodies to the limit, or more ominously, optimizing/perfecting their...

            Personally I think it depends on whether you view Olympic sports as people competing for the sake of competing vs pushing their bodies to the limit, or more ominously, optimizing/perfecting their bodies. With the former worldview you can just go and pick out things that make someone biologically more/less capable of doing certain things, in the latter, not so much.