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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023

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Exactly, which is my point in general. It's not about sports, it's about using sports as a pretext to attack trans people. This is why I'm not as quick to dismiss progressive claims of racism, or sexism, or various phobias as I used to be.

No, that's not my point. Sports is the best terrain to attack the idea of transgenderism. The fact a man is not a woman is never more manifest than when you set trained men and women against each other athletically. For anti-trans activists to choose the most favorable situation to make their case suggests nothing about their motives. Some may be motivated by phobia, others by reason or tribal affiliation or whatever; for anyone, it's the best place to set the battle lines.

I apologize that the language I used was probably stronger than what was warranted. But the general point remains—it's a less relevant side issue to attack a bigger idea. The problem is that attacking the bigger idea doesn't make sense unless there are concrete reasons to do so. If the best concrete argument you have for attacking the idea of transgenderism is that it has the potential to create unfair disparities in women's sports, then it doesn't come across as much of an argument to me, especially if criteria are put in place to mitigate those concerns and keep people from abusing the system. If the real reason you want to attack the idea of transgenderism simply boils down to "I just don't like the idea of it", then that's a pretty thin rhetorical reed.

There are a lot of people with comprehensive and well articulated arguments to trans issues, but an even bigger group of people who don't want to listen to them.

If the best concrete argument you have for attacking the idea of transgenderism is that it has the potential to create unfair disparities in women's sports,

It's the one that is most obvious but the implications are much broader. We have protections for women's spaces in our society for very real reasons and allowing males into those spaces because they want in has real harms. Prisons are another concrete example but people care more about athletes than criminals so this is a better wedge issue.