Comment on [BBC Sounds] Helen Lewis has left the chat
HeartyBeast@kbin.social 7 months agoYou can have a nuance debate about trans-inclusion in women’s sports without having to label the person you disagree with “a transphobic piece of shit”. It’s a complex issue that deserves better
You really can’t it’s been a settled issue for a long time.
Trans women get shit for the possibility of testosterone improving their performance but the science shows they actually have less testosterone than some of the cis women they’re competing against. This is thanks to the puberty blockers the government just decided that kids can’t have access to. Transphobia begets transphobia.
As I say, it’s a complex issue. Different people transition at different ages, with affects on development. Some may have taken puberty blockers at a young age, others may have transitioned later in life having gone through puberty, with accompanying musculature.
People are a diverse bunch, it wouldn’t surprise me if some trans women may have less testosterone than some cisgender women. You’re saying that “science shows they [all?] actually have less testosterone than some of the cis women they’re competing against” - I’d be interested in seeing the studies you are thinking of.
JoBo@feddit.uk 7 months ago
She has used her considerable platform to make trans lives worse in many ways, not just with regard to sport.
Because she is a transphobinc piece of shit, you see.
HeartyBeast@kbin.social 7 months ago
Wikipedia’s section, for anyone interested:
In 2012, Lewis coined what she herself referred to as "Lewis's Law": "the comments on any article about feminism justify feminism".[29] In January 2013, Lewis edited a week of articles dedicated to transgender issues in the New Statesman, featuring articles by transgender and non-binary writers including Juliet Jacques, Jane Fae and Sky Yarlett. In the introduction, she wrote: "For anyone interested in equality, it should be obvious that trans people are subject to harassment simply for the way they express their gender identity."[30]
While supporting transgender people's right to freedom from harassment and abuse,[31] in July 2017, Lewis wrote about her concerns that gender self-identification would make rape shelters unsafe for women and would lead to an increase in sexual assaults in women's changing rooms, writing: "In this climate, who would challenge someone with a beard exposing their penis in a women's changing room?"[32][33]
In response to criticism for those comments, Lewis said "I've had two tedious years of being abused online as a transphobe and a 'TERF' or 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist'—despite my belief that trans women are women, and trans men are men—because I have expressed concerns about self-ID and its impact on single-sex spaces".[34] In November 2020, game developer Ubisoft removed two in-game podcasts from Watch Dogs: Legion that featured Lewis due to the comments.[35][36][37]