He huffed about how the question wasn’t “appropriate” even though his bill would result in kids being asked that same question.

A Republican state rep from Michigan testifying about his anti-trans sports bill on Monday was left speechless after an out Democratic colleague began his questioning by asking, “Representative, can you tell me: are you trans?”

A long beat staring down out gay Democratic state Rep. Mike McFall followed, before state Rep. Jason Woolford ® managed to reply, “Are you?”

“I’m actually going somewhere with this,” he said to lawmakers in the small chamber.

“Because I want to know, how does a 14-year-old girl prove whether or not she’s trans to a 50-year-old coach?”

      • Hacksaw@lemmy.ca
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        3 days ago

        Exactly, we’re talking about two different things when comparing children’s sports and Olympic sports and it’s easy to conflate the two.

        Olympic competition needs fair rules to ensure the best humanity can produce is rewarded. The rules are already there and they seem to be fair and supported by trans athletes. Politicians need to stay out.

        In children’s sports it’s more important kids learn skills, fitness, cooperation, and find a sense of community. So unless there is a massive outlier, the rules should maximise inclusion over “fairness”. Politicians also need to stay out.

        • JiveTurkey@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          I agree. I feel like this is only made more complicated because of college sports and the money involved.

        • Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          Imma keep it a buck fifty, I don’t give a chicken fried fuck about fairness in any sport. Let them juice, drug, dope whatever, if they can do it then just document the conditions under which they achieved their times,reps, whatever.

          This whole thing is just a fools errand to give chuds a foothold to deny transcare and further trans erasure.

          • JiveTurkey@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            I think you’re being a little dramatic. I understand if you personally don’t care about the rules but I have to imagine no one is saying it should just be an absolute free for all. Again I don’t understand why we link school and sports but we do and for that reason it means a lot to some and nothing to others. I’m completely down for a free for all in professional sports.

            • Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee
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              3 days ago

              Im not being dramatic, sports just are inherently unfair, any attempt to moderate that just shifts the window for the optimal body type to play that sport.

              If your 6’5" and im 5’, and were playing basketball how do you make that fair? You don’t.

              “Oh but you could be faster or someshit” Yea that’s why we have an abundance of height differences in the nba because you can work around that obvious genetic advantage.

      • JiveTurkey@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        I agree with what you’re saying but I also don’t think it has to come to that. I guess my point is that if we don’t make some attempt to set a standard then we are allowing literally anything. I don’t honestly care for sports being tied to school in the first place but are we saying that anyone can claim to be trans and join the other team at any time because we’re all too afraid to talk about it or what? If that’s the case then it seems like we should just do a way with gender in sports completely.

        • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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          3 days ago

          I guess my point is that if we don’t make some attempt to set a standard then we are allowing literally anything.

          You have a standard. Men play in the men’s category, women in the women’s. In this context, a man is anyone with a testosterone-dominant biology, and a woman anyone with an estrogen-dominated biology. There is your objective standard.

        • Microplasticbrain@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          What if a person feels like a girl and then later a boy but the later decides that they really felt most like themselves as a girl and would like to be a woman now?

          Why the fuck should anyone else be involved in that discussion? For that sake of fairness in sportsball? Give me a break.

          Sure just do coed sports whatever I don’t care.

          The whole thing is based on a false premise, that sports were ever fair to begin with.

    • WoodScientist@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      If sports were as fair as possible, every sport would have handicaps built into it. Ensuring sports are as fair as possible is only ever brought up when new minority groups want to participate in sports they were previously excluded from.