Prepare for the wave. The all-inclusive movement is on the brink of making its entrance in this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
43-year-old transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will be guaranteed a spot in women’s weightlifting, as it currently stands. Although not placed on a team yet, Hubbard, who competed in men’s weightlifting before identifying as a woman in 2012, can compete because Hubbard’s testosterone levels meet the Olympic’s minimal requirements.
But not without pushback. Australia’s Save Women’s Sport Australasia issued a statement in response:
“Typically, male and female weightlifters achieve their peak in their mid-twenties, then performance declines with increasing age,” said spokesperson Ro Edge. “But because of an obvious and significant biological advantage, 43-year-old Hubbard has outperformed every New Zealand female weightlifter operating at their peak in the same class, thereby costing them the opportunity to represent their country at the highest level.”
“We divide sport by sex, age and capability to ensure fairness and player safety,” she continued. “We understand the desire to be inclusive of diversity, but this should not be at the expense of potential injuries and opportunities for biological women.”
Hubbard did not compete in international weightlifting in any of the 35 years living as a male, but has won several elite titles since identifying as female and competing with women. And the New Zealander, formerly known as Gavin Hubbard, is expected to hammer records this summer. Hubbard pummeled the women’s 2019 Pacific Games in Samoa with two gold medals and took gold at the women’s event in the Roma 2020 World Cup in Rome, Italy. She currently ranks 4th out of 14 women that currently qualify for the Olympics.
If Hubbard’s seat holds up, this will be the first transgender to compete in the Olympic Games, and 2024’s Olympic gates will be flooded with biological males identifying as female to compete against women. That is problematic.
The issue is not about one identifying as transgender. The problem is that these transgenders are genetically male, and manipulating their testosterone does not change that. Several scientific studies have concluded that men who had undergone male puberty still retain optimal advantages in physical strength despite taking medication to suppress their testosterone levels.
Males in one study “did not lose significant muscle mass (or power)” when their testosterone levels were suppressed below the International Olympic Committee guidelines for transgender athletes of 10nmol/L, as reported by The Federalist.
Further, continued The Federalist, it found these biological males could retain their muscle mass through training and that because of muscle memory, their mass and strength could be “rebuilt” through training. It also found that giving opposite-sex hormones to transgender people post-puberty did not alter the athletic-enhancing effects of testosterone on the male body.
Another issue is speaking out against these injustices while presenting scientific facts automatically and ridiculously gets one labeled “transphobic,” which is why this unfairness against girls and women in sports will continue to spiral out of control if decision makers don’t stop folding to the Mob.
Those who fully support biological males in female sports ignore the same preachy science they swear by. Again: when the science and factual information tears down their agenda they switch gears and pull out the “transphobic” accusation card. This is not about transphobia. The science blatantly demonstrates that biological females and transgender females are NOT the same. The division between biological male and biological female in sports was rightfully established and should be preserved.
Closer to home, Joe Biden’s first order of business in January was to sign an executive order protecting transgender children in sports. Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Idaho subsequently signed executive orders to ban transgender inclusion.
Transgenders, who have been welcomed to compete in the Olympics since the 2016 games, don’t have their own league. Perhaps this is an option that should be explored.
“Biological females have the express right not to be discriminated against on the basis of their sex in relation to opportunities to participate actively and equally in sports,” said Edge. “Allowing biological males to compete in the female division removes the basis of equality between men and women.”
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