#protect women’s sports

[fadedelegance]

https://x.com/riley_gaines_/status/1743700907550818510?s=12&t=v29QdsOtRdKJWbeBrMTmWQ

Men who cosplay as women are now allowed to beat women and get away with it.

Sadly, I believe Riley is correct—it will take a woman losing her life for people to wake the fuck up.

Female fighters—PLEASE REFUSE TO FIGHT THESE ABUSIVE FUCKS. PLEASE. Their feelings are NOT more important than your safety. Send a message by REFUSING TO COMPETE AGAINST THESE ABUSIVE MALES.

Also, we all know the pricks who do this just want to beat women and get away with it. They may even be sadists who get off on it. I’d bet that’s 99.9% of male boxers who fight in the female category. I bet that piece of shit Fallon Fox was hard as a rock when he was cracking Tamika Brent’s skull. The boxing governing body has given these evil wastes of oxygen the perfect outlet.

[coochiequeens]

“Just two athletes took so many opportunities away from biological females,” Mitchell told The Post. “Even though there were only two of them, they took 15 state championships away from other girls — and there were 85 girls that were directly impacted from them being in the races.”

“At the end of the day, this is just about fairness,” Chelsea Mitchell told The Post. “This is about biology.”

The 20-year-old is fighting for the integrity of women’s sports after she lost more than 20 races over the course of her high school career — thanks to a Connecticut policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in girls’ sports.

Now, Mitchell, who has declared herself “the fastest girl in Connecticut,” is challenging her state’s policy in court.

Mitchell is teaming up with fellow Connecticut residents Selina Soule, 20, Ashley Nicoletti, 19, and Alanna Smith, 19, who ran high school track in the state at the same time she did.

The four are suing the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, seeking to overturn a policy that allows transgender athletes to compete in accordance with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

“I wanted to give voice to my story and help other girls out there so that they wouldn’t have to experience this,” she said.

Chelsea realized her potential as a runner when she broke two school records in her first meet as a freshman at Canton High School in 2016.

“Since then I just kept going with it and got better and better,” she recalled. “Track is really just about hitting those long-term goals that you’ve set for yourself.”

For her, those goals were winning a state championship and going to college for track.

But in her first statewide competition, she was forced to compete against a transgender athlete — something she said she “had never really heard of” until it happened to her.

In that race, the trans competitor bumped her out of qualifying for the next round of competition. 

“It was just obvious to everyone there that they had a huge advantage. Everyone could see it,” Mitchell said.

By her sophomore year, she says, there were two transgender athletes regularly blowing biologically female track stars out of the water. 

Mitchell raced against them in all four years of high school and in every major race she competed in.

“Just two athletes took so many opportunities away from biological females,” Mitchell told The Post. “Even though there were only two of them, they took 15 state championships away from other girls — and there were 85 girls that were directly impacted from them being in the races.”

She herself lost two all-New England awards and four girls’ state championships as a consequence.

“Having to lose four of them, time after time, and trying to pick yourself up and go back to the starting line again and again was really hard because you knew each time that there was no hope to win,” she said.

In her junior year, she filed a Title IX complaint against the state’s policies but remained anonymous for fear that exposure might hurt her college recruitment prospects.

But by senior year, she had “reached a breaking point” and came out of the shadows to file her lawsuit with Selina Soule and Alanna Smith. 

“It was like, if I don’t speak up for myself, who else is going to speak up for me? As much as I wanted the coaches and administrators to speak up, at the end of the day, they weren’t.”

Today, Mitchell is running track as a college senior (she declined to disclose where she goes to school for privacy reasons), but she said she’ll never know how the dings to her record impacted her recruitment and scholarship prospects.

“When colleges looked at me, they didn’t see a winner. They saw a second- or third-place,” she said. “I wasn’t a first-place finisher, and I think that’s what really hurt me.”

On June 6, her argument will be reheard before the full Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City after a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit ruled against it in December. 

“We’re hopeful that the court will declare that this Connecticut policy violates Title IX,” said Mitchell’s lawyer Matt Sharp of Alliance Defending Freedom. “We’re asking for the court to recognize the damage done to Chelsea and the other athletes, and to restore their record and the credit that they rightfully worked hard to earn.”

In their filing with the Second Circuit, the athletes request that the court order that their athletic records be updated to reflect the titles and rankings they would have earned had trans athletes not been competing against them. 

The filing argues that “courts routinely recognize student athletes’ ongoing interest in vindicating the records they’ve earned.”

Mitchell said her legal battle is more important now than ever as stories like hers pop up around the country.

Just last week, two transgender athletes were no-shows at a California high school women’s preliminary track and field state championship, citing concern over public backlash to their recent races.

As a result, the two biological female runners who otherwise would have qualified were not able to compete. 

“I filed this lawsuit back in 2020, and so I think it’s sad that this is still happening,” Mitchell said.

But, as her legal battle stretches into its third year, she is holding out hope and watching a coalition build around her.

“We were the first girls to speak out about this issue, but now there are so many more girls speaking out about their own experiences and standing up with us,” she said. “The more of us there are, the easier it gets.”

This could all be solved by either creating a third category for people who want to identify has something besides their bio sex or just have the men’s catering be open.

[sighing-is-a-song]

“This ad is necessary to demonstrate the inequality and injustice that is being perpetrated on female athletes — and women in general. We care when women are mistreated in the workplace, but athletes who have practiced and sacrificed for many years are told to shut up,” said Ilan Srulovicz, founder and CEO of Egard Watch Co., in a written statement.

[niiwa-angel]

My little rant in regards to the "what about trans women!!!" Hysteria among liberals.

Trump has won the presidential race in the United States, Poilievre is looking more and more like the likely choice for the Canadian 2025 federal election, and right wing candidates are winning all across Europe. With that, women's rights are on the fritz. We're at risk of losing our right to abortion, no fault divorce, access to birth control, weakening of domestic violence protections, and so much more and YET!! We can't escape the crowd of people shouting "but what about trans women?!"

Trans 'women' can take off the wig and go back to their male privilege, with their male employment protections and their male advantage in pay.

Trans 'women' can go back to being called 'Stephen' rather than 'Stephanie' and they'll always have access to education and healthcare.

Trans 'women' can take off the makeup and they don't have to worry about being harassed at the grocery store, by people at restaurants and bars, and at work.

Real women can't do that. Butch women are not exempt from misogyny, they are still at risk of being harassed, of being passed over for promotions, and will still be harmed by abortion bans. Women who don't wear makeup are still taken less seriously as professionals. Women, regardless of race, religion, class, career, or education are at risk of being raped, getting pregnant, being victims of domestic violence, and medical misogyny.

That's why trans 'men' are still victims of misogyny. Regardless of how they identify, they will be harmed by abortion bans, weakened domestic violence laws and protections, weakened employment protections, and reduced access to birth control. They cannot identify out of their oppression.

Real women cannot take off our oppression with a change of clothes, or changing our names, or cutting our hair. Trans 'women' can. And if you can stop being oppressed with a change of clothes, you aren't oppressed.

[caitlinjohns77]

[fadedelegance]

“AnTi-FeMiNiStS!”

Holy fuuuuuuck, the cognitive dissonance…

But anyway, women are oppressed BECAUSE WE ARE FEMALE. That is where feminism came from—it arose as a movement to address the inequality between the sexes. That is still what it does. It has fuck all to do with advocating for biological males. It never has.

But yeah, go off, you disrespectful cheating fuck.

[coochiequeens]

Congratulations to the the leading woman cyclist Jasmijn Muller of Brecon, Wales. 

A trans-identified male cyclist is currently dominating the women’s category of an ultra-distance cycling challenge in Ireland.

Cameron Dixon, who now goes by Cara, is one of 13 participants listed in the “women’s” category of the TransAtlanticWay, a cross-country cycling challenge in Ireland. Dixon, who is from Stokesley, England, is currently topping the women’s leaderboard, riding almost 300km (approx. 180 miles) ahead of the next female challenger.

At the time of writing, Dixon has already covered 1767km (approx. 1100 miles) of the 2500km (approx. 1550 miles) challenge. The leading female cyclist is Jasmijn Muller of Brecon, Wales. 

There are only 13 people taking part in the women’s category, compared to 62 in the men’s category. Dixon is currently ranked in 4th amongst all of the challengers, while the second-place female cyclist is ranked 8th overall.

If Dixon were performing in the male category, he would be ranked in a tight 4th place.

The TransAtlanticWay is an annual ultra-distance self-supported road bike challenge between Derry and Cork via the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland. Due to the massive course, there are no official judges. Cyclists instead pay an entrance fee and wear a provided GPS tracking device which monitors the distance they have covered.

This isn’t the first time Dixon has participated in a women’s cycling category. 

Earlier this year, Dixon took home the women’s prize during the Dirty Reiver gravel race in the United Kingdom, smashing second place by a significant margin.

Dixon’s race time was 1 hour and 18 minutes compared to the top female participant, who finished in 2 hours and 23 minutes. He was the only person in the category to finish in less than 2 hours, and only three female participants finished in less than 3 hours. If Dixon had competed in the men’s category, he would have placed 31st. 

Dixon appears to have transitioned relatively recently, and trained and competed as a cyclist prior to identifying as a “woman.” In 2020, he gave an interview as Cameron Dixon where he disclosed that he was an engineering student and had taken up cycling in 2017.

In 2022, Dixon signed an open letter calling for British Cycling to lift their suspension on men competing in women’s cycling competitions. 

At the time, the governing body had temporarily scrapped their “trans inclusion policy,” which had allowed men to self-identify into female categories. The policy was suspended in order for a comprehensive review to be completed on whether it was fair to the female athletes. 

Despite the open letter and backlash from trans activists, British Cycling decided to ban men competing in female categories after completing their 9-month review in May.

Following the announcement, trans-identified male cyclist Emily Bridges called the move a “violent act” and likened it to contributing to the genocide of transgender people.

But the CEO of British Cycling, Jon Dutton, was not deterred, and stood by the decision.

“I am confident that we have developed policies that both safeguard the fairness of cyclesport competition, whilst ensuring all riders have opportunities to participate.”

The new policy is due to come into effect at the end of this year, meaning Dixon will no longer be allowed to participate in women’s cycling.

By Shay Woulahan

Shay is a writer and social media content creator for Reduxx. She is a proud lesbian activist and feminist who lives in Northern Ireland with her partner and their four-legged, fluffy friends.

[patscorner]

*not my picture*

[ihateyoutumbrmobfuyourself]

It passed gyns!!

Also this website shows what your representatives voted for

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Molly Sprayregen at LGBTQ Nation:

House Democrats overwhelmingly showed solidarity with the trans community this week, with only two (both from Trump-voting districts) voting in favor of an anti-trans sports bill passed by the GOP. The unified Democratic opposition to the bill is significant from a party that has appeared to be fracturing over trans rights since Donald Trump’s election victory. And according to one member of Congress, it is this type of strength that will ultimately allow the Democrats to protect vulnerable communities. “When we tell the truth about what Republicans are doing, and when we’re unafraid to do that, it generates momentum,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) told political reporter Dave Weigel. “When we lean into that momentum that we generate, and when Democrats aren’t afraid to throw a damn punch, then we can see that we can yield results.” She added that the party can’t “cower in the face of tough issues ” because “people are looking for strength.” “The reason why I think some folks in the Democratic Party have felt like trans issues are hot water, or immigration issues are hot water, is because they haven’t felt confident or the ability to confidently throw a punch on solid ground that is persuasive and uniting people” Calling out GOP malice “aggressively” is what brings people together, she emphasized. “When we just show people how a bill like this doesn’t just hurt trans girls, which is a problem, it hurts all girls; and when we show that a bunch of men who are letting women die in parking lots should not be trusted, it’s like letting foxes into the henhouse.” “I think people smell blood in the water,” she concluded. “They can understand weakness. And where they see weakness, that’s when everything kind of falls apart. So we have to be strong about these things. And I think projecting strength attracts support.”

This is why I love AOC. She’s what our party needs.

[axolotlclown]

remember when there was that post going around challenging terfs to define a chair? i have yet to watch a gender essentialist define a woman without excluding cis black women. and i want yall to watch them do it over and over again until you understand that transphobia is just repackaged white supremacy.

[khloeketamine]

you know... not everything needs to be inclusive.

[justinssportscorner]

Erin Reed at Erin In The Morning:

After Mike Johnson’s election as Speaker of the House, Republicans unveiled their top legislative priorities for 2025. Leading the list was a bill targeting transgender participation in sports—a measure so expansive it could impact everything from team sports to activities like dancing, darts, and even chess. On Tuesday, the House is set to take up the bill, with a Senate vote anticipated shortly thereafter. If enacted, the legislation would have immediate and far-reaching consequences: transgender individuals could be barred from participating in sports, forced to publicly out themselves, and face the erosion of legal recognition for their gender identity in broader aspects of U.S. law.

When asked about the bill’s prospects, sources familiar with the proceedings described the Senate vote as “close.” With a 60-vote threshold required, it remains unclear how many Democrats will support banning transgender participation in sports, but enough are considering doing so to bring the vote down to the wire. This vote will mark the first major direct congressional vote on transgender issues for many of the elected officials. Republicans appear poised to replicate a strategy that has driven the passage of hundreds of anti-trans laws and policies in recent years: begin with sports bans, normalize denying the legitimacy of transgender identities, and expand to restrictions in broader aspects of life.

Democrats have largely managed to sidestep taking direct, floor-wide votes on transgender issues post-election. During the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, an anti-trans provision barring the children of U.S. service members from receiving coverage for gender-affirming care was included in the final legislation. The bill passed with the support of 81 Democratic House members and was signed into law by President Biden, marking the first national anti-transgender law enacted in the modern wave of legislative attacks on transgender rights in the United States. While the transgender provision was just one small part of a broader budgetary bill—a strategy Republicans are likely to replicate in future fights—the precedent it sets is significant. A Senate vote to strip the provision was blocked by Democratic leadership, signaling that Democrats may be on the brink of conceding on transgender issues even in the one chamber where they currently hold enough power to offer meaningful protection.

The bill, set for a hearing on Tuesday, stipulates that “sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” It prohibits transgender female participation by barring “recipients of Federal financial assistance who operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs or activities” from allowing “a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.” If passed, the legislation would result in the immediate outing and exclusion of transgender athletes in sports programs at schools and colleges across the United States. Moreover, it would mark the first instance in recent U.S. law where transgender individuals are explicitly defined as not legally belonging to the gender with which they identify, as recognized by their identification documents and court rulings. While the bill is expected to impact sports that have become hot-button issues for conservatives, such as swimming and volleyball, it is also poised to have far-reaching—and perhaps intended—consequences for other areas of competition. The legislation prohibits athletic associations from making case-by-case judgments for competitive fairness and instead imposes a blanket ban on transgender participation. This sweeping approach means transgender individuals could be excluded from activities such as darts, billiards, dancing, disc golf, fishing, and other sports where claims of unfair advantage are tenuous at best. Even chess—recognized as a sport by multiple universities—could fall under the bill’s scope, echoing a recent move by FIDE, the international chess organization, to bar transgender women from women’s chess competitions. Notably, each of these sports has seen targeted attacks from Republicans in recent years.

[...] There is also no sign that selectively voting in sports bans is politically effective for elected leaders who decide to do so under the false pretense that it will save their jobs. In New Hampshire, one of the states where Democrats arguably capitulated the most on transgender rights—with 16 Democrats voting in favor of or “present” on a transgender sports ban, allowing it to pass—the Democratic candidate for governor lost, and Republicans gained several seats in both the House and Senate, and they have named forced outing of trans students as their next priority. Meanwhile, in Montana, where Democrats fought back fiercely against anti-trans legislation, they gained 10 seats in the House—their largest gain in the past 30 years. With House action expected Tuesday and a Senate vote expected in coming weeks, those who wish to speak to their elected officials about the policy can call them using the address lookup tool provided by Datamade.

Dear House and Senate Democrats, don’t you even entertain thoughts of capitulation and throwing out trans folk. Bans on trans people participating in sports competitions aligned with their gender identity are just the beginning step to make other anti-trans policies palatable.

Hopefully the Senate Dems stand strong and stop cloture of this harmful bill that doesn’t do jack squat about “protecting women’s sports.”

See Also:

Outsports: Republicans push new federal ban on trans athletes as bill faces an early vote in new Congress

[tracksuitlesbian]

The saddest part of Sam and Kristie getting homophobic abuse online is that neither are naive enough to be surprised by it.