Tag Archive | science

Rationalizations, Exploitation, and Selfishness

Oct5

Today I read a discussion elsewhere that attempted to rationalize the decision to not transition when someone clearly wanted to transition. Excuses included relationships with people who could not accept the truth. This specific argument bothered me greatly.

The argument that “I can’t transition because [insert family member here] can’t accept it” is a rationalization. It marks someone who is in a dependent relationship, not a healthy relationship. It also marks someone who knows very well that they are not loved unconditionally as a human being but instead is “loved” very conditionally. This is called being in a codependent relationship. It’s not healthy.

I experienced all this and looking back on it, it was pure and utter nonsense. How do I know this? How would these same family members react if I said I had cancer? Well, I know the answer to that question because I had and beat cancer eighteen years ago. And for that medical problem, people constantly urged me forward, to not give up, to have hope, to get well. The exact same people who today openly, viciously, and cruelly condemn me for addressing this health issue supported me when it wasn’t a health issue that challenged their own world view.

And you see, that is the height of selfishness.

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. And unselfishness is letting other people’s lives alone, not interfering with them. Selfishness always aims at creating around it an absolute uniformity of type. Unselfishness recognises infinite variety of type as a delightful thing, accepts it, acquiesces in it, enjoys it. It is not selfish to think for oneself. A man who does not think for himself does not think at all. It is grossly selfish to require of one’s neighbour that he should think in the same way, and hold the same opinions. Why should he? If he can think, he will probably think differently. If he cannot think, it is monstrous to require thought of any kind from him. A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses.”

― Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man and Prison Writings

Oscar Wilde’s comments ring true today too.

It’s not the person transitioning who is selfish. That person is simply addressing a verified medical condition as per the American Medical Association and American Psychological Association. Transgender people aren’t mentally ill. It’s a treatable medical condition.

And yet the exact same people who urged me forward, who supported me as I sought treatment for cancer to become well again, have treated me with deliberate, cruel, vicious disdain for seeking treatment for gender dysphoria caused by an accident of birth.

I do not question those who choose to not transition out of fear of reactions of “loved” ones. I understand that fear all too well. But what I would question is whether those people truly love you or whether you are a mere convenience in your current form for them who would become an inconvenience in another form.

Because, having lived this, it sure looks to me like a lot of people who claim to “love” their transgender relatives do nothing of the kind and instead are selfish individuals who are using their transgender relative for their own purposes, whatever those might be and who fear losing whatever convenience that relative currently provides.

Those of you who are trans need to ask yourselves whether you are really loved or whether you are just being used. I suspect that you’ll find that you’re just being used. I certainly discovered that sad truth and I sacrificed hugely for what turned out to be nothing in the end.

One Stop Trans Brain Research List

Aug14

The following list of links is to demonstrate that there is a very large body of evidence pointing to brain differences beginning in utero as the fundamental cause of most instances of transexuality. Part of the resistance to the brain-sex theory comes directly from Dr. Anne Lawrence who critiqued two early studies in this area (clear back in 2002) but who has a personal vested interest in arguing a different basis as she has based her entire career on that different basis. This list is not even close to comprehensive.

General Neurobiological Studies, Abstracts, Articles, and Commentary
Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden
Variants of Gender Differentiation in Somatic Disorders of Sex Development: Recommendations for Version 7 of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s Standards of Care
Androgens and the evolution of male gender identity among male pseudo-hermaphrodites with 5-alpha reductase deficiency
On the quest for a biomechanism of transsexualism: Is there a role for BDNF?
Transgender Science: How Might It Shape the Way We Think about Transgender Rights
A sex difference in the hypothalamic uncinate nucleus: relationship to gender identity
Regional gray matter variation in male-to-female transsexualism.
White matter microstructure in female to male transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A diffusion tensor imaging study.
White matter microstructure in transsexuals and controls investigated by diffusion tensor imaging
The microstructure of white matter in male to female transsexuals before cross-sex hormonal treatment. A DTI study.
A sex difference in the human brain and its relation to transsexuality.
Sexual differentiation of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in humans may extend into adulthood.
Specific cerebral activation due to visual erotic stimuli in male-to-female transsexuals compared with male and female controls: an fMRI study.
Male-to-female transsexuals show sex-atypical hypothalamus activation when smelling odorous steroids.
Intersex, brain differences, and the transgender tipping point
Sexual differentiation in the developing mouse brain: contributions of sex chromosome genes
Update on the Biology of Transgender Identity
Sex differences in the structural connectome of the human brain
Cortical activation during mental rotation in male-to-female and female-to-male transsexuals under hormonal treatment.
Gender Orientation: IS Conditions Within The TS Brain
Increased Cortical Thickness in Male-to-Female Transsexualism
Prenatal Exposure to Female Hormones: Effect on Psychosexual Development in Boys
Sexual differentiation of human behavior: Effects of prenatal and pubertal organizational hormones
Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology,
Brief Report: Female-To-Male Transsexual People and Autistic Traits
Dr V. Drantz Lecture: Myth & Science of Sexuality
Male–to–female transsexuals have female neuron numbers in a limbic nucleus
Discordant Sexual Identity in Some Genetic Males with Cloacal Exstrophy Assigned to Female Sex at Birth
The role of androgen receptors in the masculinization of brain and behavior: what we’ve learned from the testicular feminization mutation.
Regional cerebral blood flow changes in female to male gender identity disorder.
Sexual Hormones and the Brain: An Essential Alliance for Sexual Identity and Sexual Orientation
“Prenatal hormones versus postnatal socialization by parents as determinants of male-typical toy play in girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia”
Disorders of sex development expose transcriptional autonomy of genetic sex and androgen-programmed hormonal sex in human blood leukocytes.
Sexual differentiation of the human brain in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation
Changing your sex changes your brain: influences of testosterone and estrogen on adult human brain structure
Clinical Implications of the Organizational and Activational Effects of Hormones
Dichotic Listening, Handedness, Brain Organization and Transsexuality
Biased-Interaction Theory of Psychosexual Development: “How Does One Know if One is Male or Female?”
Increased Cortical Thickness in Male-to-Female Transsexualism
Prenatal exposure to testosterone and functional cerebral lateralization: a study in same-sex and opposite-sex twin girls.
Prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol(DES) in males and gender-related disorders:results from a 5-year study
Chapter 5 of The Transsexual Phenomenon
Prenatal phthalate exposure and reduced masculine play in boys
Brain gender identity
Current Thinking on the Etiology of Gender Dysphoria
Gender Differences in Human Brain: A Review
Begging the Question: Autism in Trans Men
Largest Study to Date: Transgender Hormone Treatment Safe
Hormone Therapy and Venous Thromboembolism Among Post-Menopausal Women
Transsexual Gene Link Identified
Transgender: Evidence on the biological nature of gender identity
Networks of the brain reflect the individual gender identity
Transsexual differences caught on brain scan
Brain Mapping Gender Identity: What Makes A Boy A Girl?
MTF Brains.mov
Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus
The (bi)sexual brain: Science & Society Series on Sex and Science
Transsexual gene link identified
The catastrophically bad New York Times op-ed on transgender research, debunked
Charlie Rose: The Brain Series – Gender Identity (an hour long video)
Think Like A Man: Testosterone Treatment Allows Transgender Men To Think And Talk Like A Man
(Note that the above article title is problematic in that it implies trans men are not men so only talk “like” men. But the hormonal research is interesting.)
(Patho)physiology of cross-sex hormone administration to transsexual people: the potential impact of male–female genetic differences
Homosexuality may be caused by chemical modifications to DNA This is important because it ties back again to hormonal in utero differences driving white matter brain structure differences.
High-Dose Testosterone Treatment Increases Serotonin Transporter Binding in Transgender People
Sex Hormones Administered During Sex Reassignment Change Brain Chemistry, Physical Characteristics
The brains of men and women aren’t really that different, study finds – This study actually reinforces the neurobiological understanding of being transgender. I explain this here, in New Brain Study Reinforces Neurobiological Explanation of Being Transgender
Sex biology redefined: Genes don’t indicate binary sexes
A Systematic Review of the Effects of Hormone Therapy on Psychological Functioning and Quality of Life in Transgender Individuals
Androgen Receptor Repeat Length Polymorphism Associated with Male-to-Female Transsexualism
Blurred lines: Human sex chromosome swapping occurs more often than previously thought
Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment
Sex isn’t chromosomes: the story of a century of misconceptions about X & Y
Removing transgender identity from the classification of mental disorders: a Mexican field study for ICD-11 (Note that this study shows that transgender mental health issues are not because we are transgender, but because people are cruel and inhumane to transgender people generally, resulting in widespread social rejection.)
Sexual differentiation of the human brain in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation. “Although the crucial question, namely how such complex functions as sexual orientation and identity are processed in the brain remains unanswered, emerging data point at a key role of specific neuronal circuits involving the hypothalamus.”
Is There Something Unique about the Transgender Brain? Imaging studies and other research suggest that there is a biological basis for transgender identity
Study shows that trans women who have access to GCS and FFS have quality of life and suicide rates comparable to the general population.
2017 Chinese Transgender Population General Survey Report
Familial Sex Reversal This is an interesting study about how widely variant sex genetics truly is.
Testosterone Treatment in Trans Boys provides Measurable Improvements in Quality of Life

Miscellaneous and Useful Documents For Trans Individuals

For convenience, the DSM-5 clearly states, gender dysphoria is not a mental disorder.

Gender Dysphoria Explanation for DSM-5

The following link helps expose why the autogynephelia diagnosis is pure garbage, which means Bailey, Blanchard, etc., are basically full of nonsense. (Because women get aroused thinking of themselves as women too.)

Autogynephilia in women.

The following link is to the 2019 AMA Friend of the Court briefing to the US Supreme Court in the Bostock case.

AMA Amicus Brief in 2019 Bostock Case

Studies, Articles, and Commentary About Trans Children’s Sense of Gender Identity
Gender Cognition in Transgender Children
Update: Gender Cognition in Transgender Children
Transgender Kids Show Consistent Gender Identity Across Measures
This Is What Happens To Transgender Kids Who Delay Puberty (Study next line below)
Young Adult Psychological Outcome After Puberty Suppression and Gender Reassignment
Transgender teens become happy, healthy young adults
Allowing Transgender Youth To Transition Improves Their Mental Health, Study Finds
Transgender kids: Painful quest to be who they are
Center For Excellence for Transgender Health: Youth: Special Considerations
Mom Fights for Controversial Medicine for Transgender Youth
Free to be themselves
Perth Year 3 student in transgender row after school cross country run
“80 percent change back”
A New Study About Transgender Kids Proves Something Majorly Important
STUDY: Transgender Kids Are Not ‘Confused’ About Their Gender Identities
Study: Trans kid’s gender implicit; govt report condemns conversion therapy
Good Outcomes With Early Transition in Transgender Youth

Random Thoughts on Patriarchy, Gender, and World Views

Aug1

Recently, at another online forum where I participate, a woman named Paula mentioned how other people’s perception of her changed as she went from self-identifying as a cross dresser to identifying as transgender then transitioning to live as a woman full time. As a cross dresser she found herself often disdained, even called “pervert” by some but as transgender transitioning the reactions generally became either empathetic or pity. Her post gave rise to lots of thoughts for me on this, but that forum is probably not the place for such a posting or discussion so I’ll do it here.

Our society is deeply wrapped up in its own creation – the gender binary. We’re taught that this is “normal”, so much so that it requires scholars actually digging for and interpreting what was obviously right in front of the faces of people in the past. For example, many ancient middle eastern societies recognized 3, 4, 5, and even 6 genders. The Code of Hammurabi has a section governing the fair treatment of “male daughters”. Native Americans embraced transsexual people as being of “two spirits” and often gave them elevated status in the tribe.

Yet in today’s society, largely shaped by its Judeo-Christian heritage, a heritage that is obsessed with male dominance, patriarchy, and two genders, people tend to see anyone outside the binary “norm” as problematic in different ways.

The gender binary you see in western civilization today is not “normal” for homo sapiens when viewed across history but it is “normal” within the context of our own civilization. I take some small comfort in that knowledge that our society itself is aberrant but I still have to deal with our current society which has self-defeating and crippling ideas about gender.

Having never publicly admitted to being a cross dresser, despite cross dressing most of my life in private, I’ve not had the experiences that Paula has. Yet it does not surprise me. The reaction to trans folk, especially transwomen is obvious. It’s either “you think you’re a woman” (as in the speaker does not actually believe it but goes along with you out of pity) or “you are a woman” (so there is some empathy, including over how difficult this must be) or “you’re a male no matter what you do” (which is outright rejection of your self-identification). But with cross dressers there is something else – “you’re a guy but you like women’s clothing?” which is seen as weird, hence the disdain.

What I find most amusing is those women, cis or trans, who even directly experiencing this yet continue to deny the impacts of patriarchy on women. But hey, there are people who still deny climate change, who deny the bad effects of smoking, and even deny that the earth is round so I guess this shouldn’t surprise me. People will defend their world view even violently rather than accept data that invalidates their world view, usually because their world view is part of their greater identity socially in some group. Risking their world view risks their place in their own social circles, hence the rejection of factual data that contradicts that world view.

In conclusion, it becomes obvious how deeply and badly gender binary patriarchy has shaped our current society, how crippling it is for those of us outside its norms, and even gives insights into how we might begin to change this. Changing a society’s deeply held gender beliefs is not something we will accomplish in our lifetimes but it is something we can work towards so that people someday can be who they are without fear of rejection or ostracism.

Gender is not strictly a social construct

Jul10

I just had cause to have to type this yet again for someone else, so I thought I’d place this answer here, where it can be easily referenced and seen. I’ve used the image in this reference before but it’s good to have the full reference too.

Gender is not solely a social construct. It is, in fact, partly biological. If I can show you just one image that demonstrates this (and there are dozens of scientific studies about this now), will you believe me?

This link contains pictures of actual brain scan results done during autopsies. Please note the image partway down the page. That image is a stained cross sectional slice of the central section of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis in the hypothalamus (BSTc) in the brain.

Please note that the upper left image is the BSTc of a heterosexual adult male. Then lower left image is the BSTc of a homosexual adult male. They are almost identical, aren’t they?

The upper right image is the BSTc of an adult heterosexual female. It is very different from that of the males, isn’t it? And the lower right image is the BSTc of a male-to-female transsexual. Her BSTc is very similar to the adult heterosexual female BSTc. It is also nothing like the male BSTc, is it?

This is just one of nearly a dozen different physical brain differences between transsexual individuals and the rest of the population. I, we as transsexual women, literally have a female brain inside a male body.

Most people do not realize that there is this duality inside them. They don’t realize it because their brain and their bodies match. So to them it seems like one uniform whole.

But to those of us born this way, it is a constant clawing pain inside. It’s horror as your body becomes something that your brain isn’t intended to work with.

And we don’t know how to fix the brain. These brain structures form and set between the 8th and 16th week of pregnancy. Once set, they can never be changed. No amount of testosterone will change my brain into male. In fact, more testosterone usually makes us more depressed.

So no, gender is not solely a social construct. That is a myth promulgated by Dr. Money and Dr. McHugh (who recently wrote a pile of crap in the Wall Street Journal) back in the 1960s at Johns Hopkins. And their assumptions have all been disproved. Gender really does have a partial biological component and when that component is mismatched to person’s body, significant psychological trauma can occur. This is why we take hormones and undergo surgery – to align our body with our brains, because we have no idea how to do the reverse.

For more information on how hormonal levels in the womb impact individuals, please review this 2011 AMA Webcast. It is about an hour long but contains important medical information that relates to how transsexual brains come to be the way they are.

http://media01.commpartners.com/AMA/sexual_identity_jan_2011/index.html

Medical Information about Transwomen in Sports

Mar9

The following was put together by Transadvocate, a trans advocacy website, on their Facebook page. In order to not lose track of it, I am putting it here. This is not my work! I am copying it for ease of reference! Thank you Transadvocate and Rehan! If I find another link to this, I will add it here for completeness as well.

In regards to the Crossift HQ refusal of Chloie Jonnson’s participation at the games here are some facts that should be considered before any sensationalistic claims are made without proper knowledge.

First of all the XY vs XX argument is invalid and not sufficient. There are well documented cases of XX males and XY females. The SRY gene region is normally found on the Y chromosome but is not a reliable method of testing since not only is not always found on the Y chromosome it also triggers a gene cascade not well understood by scientists yet that in turn affect other tissues during development which may lead to altered sexually dimoprhic traits in individuals, such as brain structure.

This is evidenced by scientific literature cited

Male-to-Female Transsexuals Have Female Neuron Numbers in a Limbic Nucleus
http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jcem.85.5.6564

and

Sexual differentiation of the human brain: relevance for gender identity, transsexualism and sexual orientation

Read More: http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09513590400018231
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09513590400018231

and

Sexual Differentiation of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis in Humans May Extend into Adulthood
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/3/1027.short

and

A sex difference in the human brain and it’s relation to transsexuality.
http://depot.knaw.nl/821/1/15106_285_swaab.pdf

with subsequent study by Dr.Swaab et al. And Kruijver et al. showing differences in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis, SDN, Hypothalamus and gray matter volume underlining the importance of brain physiology.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0165380688902313

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811909003176

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v28n03_07#.UxoCwRbPPFI

http://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr&id=JFpq6hYQRhQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA41&dq=brain+dissection+transgender+Dr.+Swaab&ots=FjtewJ28wz&sig=8F-QOG1Q5QCEIMe1oQwqlWNb9ko#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://www.hawaii.edu/PCSS/biblio/articles/2005to2009/2006-atypical-gender-development.html

Also studies showing it to be irreversible

http://aace.metapress.com/content/nm510264636815vk/

There is also an article linking hormone related genes to the atypical sexual dimoprhism. Genes CYP19 (Aromatase responsible for testosterone to estrogen conversion), AR (androgen receptor, the “key” hole for the cell that the testosterone “key” acts on to elicit it’s effects) and ESRB (Estrogen Receptor Beta which is responsible for the initiation of differentiating gene cascades in the fetal brain during fetal hormonal “washes”)

here

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453005000454

Continuing on the topic of performance and gender testing the IOC released a statement before the 2012 summer Olympics.

“The new rules state that a panel of independent medical experts will examine through a blood test the testosterone levels in a woman and will then make a recommendation about whether she could be eligible to compete.”

The IOC and NCAA have decided after extensive research (independently) that Hormone profile is the primary determining factor for gender qualification in sport.

The Olympics requires 2 years post surgery before being allowed to compete at an INTERNATIONAL event.

The NCAA requires only one year of HRT.

This was determined the minimum to not have any unfair advantage as evidenced by the quotes from respective authorities below.
“Requiring sex reassignment surgery before allowing participation for the high school or collegiate student athlete is medically unnecessary and not linked to competitive equity IOC regulations requiring surgery for Olympic transgender athletes have been controversial and it would be unreasonable to”make this requirement for high school and college students”
ERIC VILAIN M.D., PH.D., PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR GENDER-BASED BIOLOGY AND CHIEF MEDICAL GENETICS DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS, UCLA
“Research suggests that androgen deprivation and cross sex hormone treatment in male-to-female transsexuals reduces muscle mass; accordingly, one year of hormone therapy is an appropriate transitional time before a male-to- female student athlete competes on a women’s team
ERIC VILAIN: M.D., PH.D., PROFESSOR, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR GENDER-BASED BIOLOGY AND CHIEF MEDICAL GENETICS DEPARTMENT OF PEDIATRICS, UCLA
“Transgender student athletes fall within the spectrum of physical traits found in athletes of their transitioned gender, allowing them to compete fairly and equitably”
DR. NICK GORTON
AMERICAN BOARD OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, MEDICAL LEGAL CONSULTANT, TRANS HEALTH CARE

Further more, the difference need to be put into perspective when transgender women are compared with cisgender women they fall within a female range after the required time period (1 year NCAA, 2 years post-op IOC).
“Differences within the sexes are considerable and often times larger than differences between the sexes ”
DR. WALTER BOCKTING, PH.D.
PRESIDENT OF WPATH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL

These facts are presented based on scientific literature as cited
here
Elbers JM, Asscheman H, Seidell JC, et al. Effects of sex steroid hormones on regional fat depots as assessed.
here
Australian Sports Commission. Transgender in sport.www.ausport.gov.au/fulltext/2001/ascpub/women_transgender.asp (accessed 22 Mar 2005).

here
as contrasted between these two
↵ Stamm R, Veldre G, Stamm M, et al. Dependence of young female volleyballers’ performance on their body build, physical abilities, and psycho-physiological properties. J Sports Med Phys Fitness 2003;43:291–9. [Medline][Web of Science]
↵ Viitasalo JT. Anthropometric and physical performance characteristics of male volleyball players. Can J Appl Sport Sci1982;7:182–8. [Medline]
and here
Pilgrim J, Martin D, Binder W. Far from the finish line: transsexualism and athletic competition. Fordham Intellectual Property Media & Entertainment Law Journal2003;13:495–549.
And the rest of these studies

↵ Federation Internationale de Volleyball. Medical regulations, ed. 2004. http://www.cev.lu/mmp/online/website/main_menu/downloads/file_28430/fivb_med_regulations_-_revised_7.pdf (accessed 23 Mar 2005).
↵ Lausanne Declaration on Doping in Sport (adopted by the World Conference on Doping in Sport). 1999.www.sportunterricht.de/lksport/Declaration_e.html (accessed 23 Mar 2005).
↵ Ritchie I. Sex tested, gender verified: controlling female sexuality in the age of containment. Sport History Review2003;34:80–98.
↵ Batterham AM, Birch KM. Allometry of anaerobic performance: a gender comparison. Can J Appl Physiol1996;21:48–62. [Medline]
Thomas JR, French KE. Gender differences across age in motor performance: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull1985;98:260–82. [CrossRef][Medline][Web of Science]
↵ Shepard RJ. Exercise and training in women. Part I. Influence of gender on exercise and training responses. Can J Appl Physiol2000;25:19–34. [Medline][Web of Science]
↵ Dickinson BD, Genel M, Robinowitz CB, et al. Gender verification of female Olympic athletes. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002;34:1539–42. [CrossRef][Medline][Web of Science]
↵ Simpson JL, Ljungqvist A, de la Chapelle A, et al. Gender verification in competitive sports. Sports Med 1993;16:305–15. [Medline][Web of Science]
↵ Introducing the, uh, ladies. JAMA1966;198:1117–18.
↵ Doig P, Lloyd-Smith R, Prior JC, et al. Position statement. Sex testing (gender verification) in Sport. Canadian Academy of Sports Medicine. 1997. http://www.casm-acms.org/PositionStatements/GendereVerifEng.pdf (accessed 23 Mar 2005).

There is no “residual” advantage and often times transgender athletes are at a disadvantage due to severely lowered testosterone levels in comparison to native females. Cisgender women have a higher testosterone than transgender women who have had reassignment surgery and the related information.
http://transathletes.org/hormones.php

Other issues that arise in the form of practicality

1) Her numbers pale in comparison to other female athletes

Crossfit profile comparison between her and CLB:http://games.crossfit.com/compare/161983/8404

Back Squat: 225 lb Clean & Jerk: 165 lb Snatch: 125 lb Deadlift: 275 lb

These numbers pale in comparison to the top competitors as well as compared to many other regional athletes.

2) Let her compete, if she has an unfair advantage it will be very apparent and provide evidence for these as of yet unfounded claims of unfair advantage. There are yet to be any instances of a transgender athlete dominating competitions if this were to be so likely.

3) Saying this will open the door for other males to “become” transgender and dominate is very short sighted. Firstly they would have to adhere to the strict protocol involving Hormone Replacement Therapy which would remove that advantage. Secondly transgender people face a MASSIVE amount of discrimination not to mention the amount of money and physical pain of procedures that need to be endured to complete the requirements. The transgender suicide rate is 41%, forcing someone to live as the opposite identity is devastating psychologically and would also be true of someone trying to “fake” it. (Remember once the surgery is done it is a PERMANENT change, is winning crossfit that important?)

4) Having larger bone structure and lowered muscle mass constitutes a disadvantage.

5) Furthermore there is no consistent testing policy in crossfit for PED’s. A cis-female using AA has a much larger and much more distinct advantage which could be considered universally as an “unfair advantage”.

The most shocking thing is the completely deplorable and inappropriate reply from Crossfit HQ, who seem to be the ones lacking in understanding of the human genome and biology.