Brien: @politeicecream.bsky.social I'm nowhere near as big of a competitive sailing fan as you are, but this seems crazy!

@politeicecream.bsky.social I'm nowhere near as big of a competitive sailing fan as you are, but this seems crazy!

On Assigned today, Alyssa Steinsiek has a story about a ban on women in specific events for a sport that is more typically mixed gender and has no particular gender advantages or disadvantages. Way to go, sailing. Ride that anti-trans bandwagon! www.assignedmedia.org/breaking-new...

New World Sailing Guidelines Ban Most Trans Women — Assignedwww.assignedmedia.org New participation guidelines published by World Sailing mirror de facto bans on trans women participating in competitive sailing, a move sure to harm cisgender competitors and the sport as a whole.

And of course I mean "crazy *over and above* all the other stupid anti-trans rules in every other sport"

Sigh. The non-keel boat Olympic sailing scene is so messed up as it is. France, being Olympic hosts, have really pushed for more sailing events in the Olympics this year. Be curious to hear if this was targeting someone in the ranks particular or one of those no one asked for this things.

I do think the framing of small boat sailing as not being gendered may be unhelpful tho - in those Olympic classes… it isn’t just a mental game, but sailors are physically stronger, they’re positioning their bodies further away from the mast for max leverage, if the rules allow they’re literally

pumping in light air. There’s too much nuance amongst the actual expert coaches and sailors that I can’t even begin to understand the nuances of what’s a fast 470 or laser.

Yeah, I can definitely understand some strength/mass advantages, but it seems pretty minor, especially compared to most other olympic sports. And setting a *hormone* limit seems like it's just going to cause gigantic headaches for everyone, as these rules always do.

I googled quickly and it looks like they’re using the same standard as world aquatic is proposing - which is also under legal scrutiny/challenge from possible would be competitors.

But in the end I really don’t know enough about tanner scale & long term effect of puberty or how to “normalize” athletes who are by definition exceptional. OTOH I want every person who is trans to be as self actualized as possible but there’s also the contradiction that we put in barriers to

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