IRFU Transgender Women Policy Change

So by your own admission, you have no idea of this persons lived experience. You call them a friend yet know seemingly nothing about them. You are clearly demonstrating that you have no understanding of the process or experiences of people coming out. Though you most certainly feel in a position to judge them.

You are not however commenting from a position of ignorance?

That ladies and gentlemen is what we call Double Think.

This is completely missing the point. The tenet of the IRFU's ruling is based on peer reviewed science on the issue. Which I assume i physiological differences between a transgender woman and a female in the general sense.

A quick internet search and I found the following peer reviewed article -

Transgender Women in the Female Category of Sport: Perspectives on Testosterone Suppression and Performance Advantage

Where the following was found -

"[T]he performance gap between males and females becomes significant at puberty and often amounts to 10-50% depending on sport. The performance gap is more pronounced in sporting activities relying on muscle mass and explosive strength, particularly in the upper body. Longitudinal studies examining the effects of testosterone suppression on muscle mass and strength in transgender women consistently show very modest changes, where the loss of lean body mass, muscle area and strength typically amounts to approximately 5% after 12 months of treatment. Thus, the muscular advantage enjoyed by transgender women is only minimally reduced when testosterone is suppressed. Sports organizations should consider this evidence when reassessing current policies regarding participation of transgender women in the female category of sport."

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Australian Transgender Guidelines for Sport, Part 1: Biological Perspectives, Fairness, and Physical Safety in Women's Sport.

"Although such research is in its infancy, findings point to ongoing superiority of TW's performance and innate biological advantages compared to cis women, despite lowered testosterone with hormone suppression therapy. We assert that sports bodies should pay greater heed to the biological facts and continue to seek research to support participation policies. In the meantime, we argue that the current transgender participation guidelines be withdrawn, and that sports organizations explore other fairer solutions to facilitate inclusive participation for trans athletes."

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Basically the science says trans women have an unfair competitive on general females, and in sports like Rugby there is further safety issue. Think of it from a female rugby players perspective, you train hard in your sport get to a high level. All of sudden a transwoman is parachuted in and is unplayable as an opponent. I am thinking of Jonah Lomu if he had decided to become a transwoman and play female rugby what would have happened?

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Also has anyone asked the two trans people that play female rugby within the IRFU what they think? It seems to me that a lot of people to be speaking on their behalf, but no one knows their views.

Are they happy enough to be able to play tag Rugby with the women? Or would they be willing to run to play in males Rugby?

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I really don't see the fuss overall, it is not as if the two individuals are completely prevented from participating in Rugby completely.

It's possible that people simply want trans-role models or sporting idols and so on. Let's be honest, if trans-women are allowed to play in women's rugby then it's only a matter of time before they would absolutely dominate the sport. Everybody knows this.

So it kind of makes sense because banning them from women's sports basically removes their chance to have any real success in sports at all and this means that "trans kids" aren't really going to have proper trans role models. I am sure that they don't want to be stuck with "content creators" on YouTube and anonymous whiners on Twitter as their role models forever.

Unfortunately, having this in sports would come at the expense of girls having proper female role models. When your "sportswoman of the year" award is only ever going to be won by a woman who has gone through transition then this is also exclusionary.

This clash between TERFS and Trans was always going to happen as soon as it became obvious that a child male could grow into an adult male and then identify as a woman and steal a female's spot.

It's a dilemma that won't ever be resolved. Just now it seems like the attitude online is that "sports aren't important so just let people compete with whoever they want". That's a real shame for anyone born female who aspires to be the best they can be at any given sport. Imagine competing your whole life for that spot on the national team but some mediocre player who identified as a guy until a year ago just swaggers in and takes that place with ease. That's a sacrifice people are willing to make for equality. Except it isn't equality at all. It certainly isn't fairness.