sundin13 said:
How should individuals who don't identity as any gender be treated by sports? And what exactly does that mean? Your argument is far from clear.
I was also speaking about the top tier because I don't think it really matters if someone falls within what would be expected from a biological woman. Why should we do anything to prevent someone unremarkable from competing? Why is it less fair for a low/mid tier trans woman to play a sport than a high tier cis woman?
As for "fairness", you say sports are built on fairness, but don't regulate "natural athleticism", which is exactly what I am saying. The variation in "natural athleticism" is huge, and certainly not "fair". There isn't really anything here that I think counters my point. If anything it reinforces it. Yes, sports are deeper than that natural variation. That's kind of the point.
As for whether men and women should compete together, I think that is an interesting question and I wouldn't personally object if we switched to a system which separated players by skill and not gender. However, I think that is more of a logistical question than a theoretical one. Further, we've actually seen a few female athletes playing on men's teams at the college level, and some who may soon be playing in the NFL. I have no problem with mixed sports.
Back to the discussion, I think there are a few things that need to be determined here:
1) Is it actually "unfair" for trans athletes to compete?
2) Does that unfairness matter?
3) What should be done about it?
In my opinion, I don't think a solid argument has been made for any of these three points. Even the first which has largely been taken as a given is far from being proven. The only scientific study I found on the matter determined that trans athletes who have transitioned competed in the same position relative to their peers both before and after their transition.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/07/scientist-racing-discover-how-gender-transitions-alter-athletic-performance-including
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