The International Cricket Council has become the latest sports body to ban transgender players from the elite women’s game if they have gone through male puberty.

The ICC said it had taken the decision, following an extensive scientific review and nine-month consultation, to “protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players”.

It joins rugby union, swimming, cycling, athletics and rugby league, who have all gone down a similar path in recent years after citing concerns over fairness or safety.

    • PotatoKat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Studies have shown that after around 2 years of HRT the strength of trans women level out to the average of cis women. The only things that really stay the same are things like bone length /bone density, and it’s not like there are no cis women with dense bones that are tall.

      Edit: taken from another comment of mine:

      found a more recent study that states endurance things like running and swimming level out by around 2 years, with most things level out after about 4 with the exception of upper body strength. Which is still declining in trans women past that point

      https://academic.oup.com/jcem/advance-article/doi/10.1210/clinem/dgad414/7223439

      So the 1 year that is recommended is too soon for trans women athletes to start competing, but for endurance sports like racing and swimming it should be fine by 2 years. Other sports may need more time, but also we shouldn’t be delaying the lives of trans people for so long. We need to find a good middle ground because it’s not like exceptional cis women don’t exist in those same sports.

      This is all also completely ignoring that if a trans women starts hrt before puberty then there is no real difference. So the real solution is to let trans teenagers transition.

        • PotatoKat@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          That compete in sports? No.

          The vast-vast majority of trans women take HRT and many of the ones that don’t, don’t because of a lack of access.

          • TopRamenBinLaden@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Makes sense thanks for the explanation. Yea, I figure it’s way less common for a trans woman to not want to go the HRT route if they have the ability to, but I know a few must exist.

            • PotatoKat@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              They do exist and they are just as valid, but they’re definitely not the ones competing in sports (plus there are already requirements for trans women to be on HRT before competing in women’s leagues)

    • Franzia
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      1 year ago

      Trans women aren’t biologically men.

      • Jin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Sorry if my English is a bit weird. If they have the chromosomes (XY), then yes.

          • Jin@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            No, chromosomes are not a social construct. They are physical structures in cells that carry genetic information and play a fundamental role in biological processes, including determining an individual’s sex. The concept of chromosomes is grounded in biology and genetics, not social constructs.

            You can spin it all you want, but women are getting destroyed in sports by transwomen because they have physique of a man like bone structure and muscle mass.

          • GreenM@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Social construct is the separation of gender from sex. In many languages it doesn’t even make sense because fe/male is used for animals or wo/men for humans while gender and sex are represented by single word.

            • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              This whole argument of “gender vs sex” is ridiculous and always has been. Biology is what matters, not what words you use to refer to yourself or others.

                • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  I’m definitely not a conservative Republican, far from it. I love how people immediately jump to conclusions on here based on one statement.

                  I don’t give a damn what bathroom you use.

                  IMO this is like arguing whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable.

        • darq@kbin.social
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          1 year ago

          Those are not the trans people being spoken about I’m sports discussions though. Pretty much every sport that allows, or has previously allowed, trans people to compete in the division fitting their gender has had regulations around HRT and maintaining target hormone levels for a period of time before being allowed to compete.

    • darq@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Simply because there is a huge difference, biologically, between a cisgender man and a transgender women who is on HRT.

      You can argue that there is still residual advantages remaining after transition, that’s fine. But to call them men is both plainly incorrect, and also offensive.