Since When Did Transfeminine Athletes Have An Advantage Over Cisfeminine Ones?

'The Women’s Sports Foundation supports the right of all athletes, including transgender athletes, to participate in athletic competition that is fair, equitable and respectful to all--Women's Sports Foundation, 2011 'Participation of Transgender Athletes In Women's Sports '
I'm really getting beyond sick and tired of being sick and tired of hearing, along with with my transfeminine athletic sisters around the world this ignorant and repeated far too often bull feces by cis people that transfeminine athletes have an advantage over their cis feminine counterparts. 

Been hearing that tired argument since Renée Richards sued the USTA in 1977 for the right to play in the US Open.  

That argument defies logic and is an insult to the competitive abilities of cis feminine athletes to suggest that a trans feminine athlete would instantly dominate whatever cisfeminine sporting ranks they compete in. 

I played varsity tennis in high school and still play from time to time.  But there is no way in Hades I can beat a Serena Williams or any professional women's tennis player even on their worst day and I simultaneously crank my game up at that moment to an A++  level.  To suggest I can simply because I showed up on the planet in a masculine body half a century ago and just show up on the court to play them is delusional.   

And speaking of Renée Richards, know how many Grand Slam tournaments she during her pro career? Same as Anna Kournikova. ZERO  Renee Richards had more tennis success as a coach for Martina Navratilova

The 'transfeminine athletes have an advantage over cisfeminine competitors' meme is one that needs to die a swift and painful death.   It is used far too often to exclude trans women from competition and has its roots in the same racist rhetoric that was used to enable discriminating against African-American athletes and justify segregated sports in the Jim Crow era. 

Dr.Eric Vilain, director of the Center for Gender-based Biology, and chief of medical genetics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California Los Angeles, has long ago debunked the idea that transgender women who have been on hormone replacement therapy for a significant amount of time retain some sort of advantage over their cisgender counterparts:

"Research suggests that androgen deprivation and cross-sex hormone treatment in male-to-female transsexuals reduces muscle mass; accordingly, one year of hormone therapy is an appropriate transitional time before a male-to-female student athlete competes on a women's team."

But yet the ignorance, as evidenced by the recent Wendy Williams show panel and CrossFit's transphobic response to Chloie Jonsson still persists.

This from the general counsel for CrossFit:

"Chloie was born genetically- as a matter of fact- with an X and a Y chromosome and all of the anatomy of a male of the human race... [A] male competitor who has a sex reassignment procedure still has a genetic makeup that confers a physical and physiological advantage over women. We owe it to the competition and the whole pool of female athletes to exclude Chloie from the participating in the female division."

How the hell do you know what Chloie Jonsson's chromosomal makeup is?   Unless you have some special mutant powers we aren't aware of, the only way you can tell someone chromosomal makeup is by genetic testing. 

Note to the transphobic and scientifically ignorant.   XX and XY aren't the only sex chromosomal combinations that humans have.  There's XXY,  XXX, XYY, XXXY, XO...

Because of that ignorance, the California based fitness trainer was denied the opportunity to compete in the International CrossFit Games, which seeks to find the fittest men and women on the planet.

Note it didn't say fittest cis men or cis women on the planet.

Jonsson is now suing CrossFit for $2.5 million for violating the state anti-discrimination law that covers trans people.  The case is scheduled to go to court in Santa Cruz, CA in July and it would be wise for CrossFit to settle because other major international sporting organizations, including the International Olympic Committee and the NCAA have clearly defined policies and guidelines concerning trans athletes. 

Bottom line is that trans athletes not only want to, but deserve the chance to compete in sports without drama just like anyone else on this planet.   Denying transpeople that opportunity because of your transphobic bigotry and prejudice is not only wrong, but in CrossFit's case may cost them a lot of cash. 

Let my trans people play.   Let my trans people compete.  Let my trans people participate in sports without drama.