![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unbibiumMost of the trans people in my life are geeks like me so the "trans people in sports" issue doesn't directly affect them.
As for me, even though I'm not trans, I couldn't play sports for a different reason. I couldn't see well enough to track fast-moving objects on a field, and was particularly vulnerable to prolonged sun exposure. And I think I would have grown up more well-rounded if I'd been able to play some kind of sport, and learned about teamwork and discipline and taking direction, and learned to deal with losing and winning gracefully. Maybe I'd have been no good and have learned to quit things that weren't working out -- that alone would have been a great skill for me to have taken into adulthood. Those of you who are supporting efforts to deny trans students the ability to compete in athletics, I'm not equipped to debate that issue myself. But I must plead that you take special care to make sure that you understand the claims you're supporting, and that you're working with good information that is scientifically sound, and to make sure you're not simply getting fed carefully curated scare stories and slippery slope arguments by people looking to stir up controversy. Seeking a level playing field is a noble principle, but denying an able-bodied student the ability to compete with their peers is more than just an inconvenience, and not a position to take for simple partisan reasons.
As for me, even though I'm not trans, I couldn't play sports for a different reason. I couldn't see well enough to track fast-moving objects on a field, and was particularly vulnerable to prolonged sun exposure. And I think I would have grown up more well-rounded if I'd been able to play some kind of sport, and learned about teamwork and discipline and taking direction, and learned to deal with losing and winning gracefully. Maybe I'd have been no good and have learned to quit things that weren't working out -- that alone would have been a great skill for me to have taken into adulthood. Those of you who are supporting efforts to deny trans students the ability to compete in athletics, I'm not equipped to debate that issue myself. But I must plead that you take special care to make sure that you understand the claims you're supporting, and that you're working with good information that is scientifically sound, and to make sure you're not simply getting fed carefully curated scare stories and slippery slope arguments by people looking to stir up controversy. Seeking a level playing field is a noble principle, but denying an able-bodied student the ability to compete with their peers is more than just an inconvenience, and not a position to take for simple partisan reasons.
