MTFTG in Women's Sports (a new analogy)

It will surprise some (maybe "many") that I oppose male-to-female transgender folks from participating in women's sports.

At its core, the question comes down to "What is the purpose of sport?" In a way, the issue is not dissimilar from "participation trophies," IMO.

If you believe that sport exists simply to allow everyone to take part, you probably support both participation trophies and MTFTG participation in women's sports.

If you believe that sport exists to actually determine "Who is the best" at something, you probably do not support either of them.

The pragmatic problem is that, in ANY sport, there will always be people who simply have physical traits which will almost guarantee success against those without those traits. A team of 6'6" boys will almost always beat a team of 5'5" boys at basketball. A team of girls under 120-pounds will almost always beat a team of girls over 200 pounds at distance running.

And a physical body that developed with the presence of testosterone (among other things) will almost always have greater speed, strength and endurance than a body that developed without it.

Boxing has addressed this question by creating ... what, twenty? ... weight classes. A boxer at 145-pounds CANNOT compete against a boxer at 235-pounds. So, boxers at 145 compete against one another, and boxers at 235 compete against one another.

Most sports, however, do not lend themselves to twenty classes. So, we choose two classes that seem to be both reasonable and fair ... men and women.

Just my two-cents.