Fairness is wiped out at a stroke
RSOMETIMES, no matter which side of a debate you’re on, you must accept that the pivotal moment has suddenly arrived.Time to decide what you think.A watershed.
So it is now, in the great transgender debate in sport. Lia Thomas, born a man, is seen here towering over defeated rivals after being the first trans-athlete to win the top US national college title.
Lia lifted the women’s 500-yard freestyle swimming race by a country mile. Not exactly surprising given feet and hands the size of paddles and the huge skeletal and cardiovascular advantage conferred on most people who’ve gone through male puberty (Thomas, 22, began transitioning three years ago and after hormone therapy is now legally eligible to compete in women’s college events in the US).
The runners-up didn’t really stand a chance against Lia, who romped home a full second-and-a-half before her nearest competitor.A second-and-a-half at that level is roughly the equivalent of a week to you and me.
They say a picture speaks a thousand words. UK politicians choked on theirs this month, when asked to define “woman”. Labour’s Anneliese Dodds got herself into a fearful tangle, swerving the question so repeatedly that novelist JK Rowling tweeted: “Someone please send the Shadow Minister for Equalities a dictionary and a backbone.” Meanwhile Shadow Home secretary Yvette Cooper refused point-blank to define “woman”, saying she would “not go down that rabbit hole”.
But back to “that” picture.To be
scrupulously fair, it should be pointed out that Lia is standing on the victor’s podium and therefore is already almost a foot higher than the vanquished trio to her left.
But no one could deny she had a massive inbuilt physical advantage. Between 2017 and 2019, competing as a man called Will, Lia languished at 554th in the national college listings. Now, in the women’s category? She’s in first place.
Parents of other competitors who say this just isn’t fair have been loftily instructed by Ivy League swimming apparatchiks to seek counselling for holding retrograde views.As an attempt to shut down inconvenient debate, patronising doesn’t begin to cover it.
Do I think Lia Thomas has the right to describe herself as a woman, and be treated as one?
Yes... 100 per cent.And that’s not some right-on “woke” sentiment. For as long as I can remember I’ve believed that anyone who feels they’ve been born into the wrong gender has, in a civilised society, the absolute right to redefine themselves, sexually, socially and legally.
But I also believe in fairness in sport, and those US parents are right: this is about as fair as putting a bantamweight into the ring with a heavyweight, or an F1 car on the starting grid at a Formula Three Grand Prix.
Lia Thomas wants to compete at the next Olympics in 2024.That presents the IOC with a conundrum they have barely months left to solve. I doubt right-on counselling sessions will help them. Clear thinking will.