Women's Sports and Lia Thomas thread

[Anonymous]

Hi there. Not surprised that this thread was locked. Interesting update about the black athlete PP. What is your criteria for a post being 'transphobic' and removing it?

[jsteele]

Some examples from that poster were repeatedly calling transwomen "men" and saying that the "whole movement" is trying to "emotionally blackmail the entire world into parroting the lie that men aren’t men".

This goes well beyond a discussion about the participation of transwomen in women's sports.

[Anonymous]

Ok, yeah, it's too bad that it had to be locked. There were definitely some transphobic comments in there and it must be a hassle to keep removing them. On the other hand, I saw some comments that appeared to be factual statements and non-transphobic opinions removed as well. Just wanted to understand what is the criteria so that I don't accidentally get banned in the future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, yeah, it's too bad that it had to be locked. There were definitely some transphobic comments in there and it must be a hassle to keep removing them. On the other hand, I saw some comments that appeared to be factual statements and non-transphobic opinions removed as well. Just wanted to understand what is the criteria so that I don't accidentally get banned in the future.

Such as?

[Anonymous]

That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

It was a real Jekyll and Hyde situation. She had the original very thoughtful post that everyone praised and a couple more that were similar, then she posted a bunch of anti-Trans posts which she didn't sign. I guess she knew they wouldn't be received as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

Seems like we are having a tough time avoiding them here too.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

It was a real Jekyll and Hyde situation. She had the original very thoughtful post that everyone praised and a couple more that were similar, then she posted a bunch of anti-Trans posts which she didn't sign. I guess she knew they wouldn't be received as well.

Did the thoughtful post seem consistent with earlier posts? Or was it all a ploy?

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

It was a real Jekyll and Hyde situation. She had the original very thoughtful post that everyone praised and a couple more that were similar, then she posted a bunch of anti-Trans posts which she didn't sign. I guess she knew they wouldn't be received as well.

Did the thoughtful post seem consistent with earlier posts? Or was it all a ploy?

I didn't check but I was under the impression that was her first post in that thread. Maybe I will check now. I actually removed one of her posts yesterday or the day before that was also transphobic. I didn't realize it was her when I removed it and sort of discovered that by accident. I was so shocked that I went back and reconfirmed everything. Then I removed it and didn't make an issue of it because I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was an aberration. But, that proved to be a mistake.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Did the thoughtful post seem consistent with earlier posts? Or was it all a ploy?

I just checked and that post was her first post in the thread. However, I discovered that she had posted in other threads and she appears to be especially fixated on trans issues. That is practically the only topic about which she posts. Her issue with the trans community goes far beyond sports. She essentially rejects the entire concept. I considered linking to some of her other posts but instead I just deleted them. They were very revealing, but perhaps too revealing.

[Anonymous]

I think she was pretty open that she had concerns that extended beyond sports. At least, that isn’t a surprise to me as a reader. But it is not at all okay to refer to transwomen as men, which I am pretty sure she did if I am thinking of the correct post that was deleted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That is really unfortunate but I don’t blame you. I saw the transphobic posts too. I wish there was a way to have a discussion about trans athletes, the zero sum nature of athletics, access to universities through athletics, and the history of white feminists/progressives not caring about issues of women of color, without attracting transphobes. I don’t think this is an easy issue no matter what the progressive party line is.

I thought the black athlete poster had some very thoughtful points and I am really sorry to hear that she had transphobic posts.

Seems like we are having a tough time avoiding them here too.

I have no idea how this post could be considered transphobic. I wrote it, and I was trying to NOT be transphobic. I guess maybe you never want transwomen athletes ever discussed at all?

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did the thoughtful post seem consistent with earlier posts? Or was it all a ploy?

I just checked and that post was her first post in the thread. However, I discovered that she had posted in other threads and she appears to be especially fixated on trans issues. That is practically the only topic about which she posts. Her issue with the trans community goes far beyond sports. She essentially rejects the entire concept. I considered linking to some of her other posts but instead I just deleted them. They were very revealing, but perhaps too revealing.

Ah ok. Thanks for checking/removing.

[Anonymous]

So like women's menstrual issues post-vaccine which could not be discussed, the issue of transwomen athletes also cannot be discussed.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:So like women's menstrual issues post-vaccine which could not be discussed, the issue of transwomen athletes also cannot be discussed.

You are a confused person.

Women's menstrual issues related to the vaccine were repeatedly discussed and continue to be discussed. Some threads were deleted for violating guidelines. The threads that followed the rules continue to exist.

I would love to be able to be able to host a respectful discussion about trans women athletes. Indeed, a 25 page discussion only ended when transphobes could not comply with the need to be respectful. There has been a repeated pattern in which posters try diligently to keep discussions civil and I expend significant efforts to assist those posters in maintaining civility, but transphobes ultimately make our efforts futile.