Return of the trans powerlifter

Earlier this month, we talked about the case of transgender powerlifter Mary Gregory. After clearing the field at a championship event and setting four world records in the process, the governing commission reviewed the results and stripped Gregory of his world records, citing the fact that he is biologically male. (Gregory has been taking hormone therapy to reduce his testosterone levels for roughly a year but has not had surgery yet. I reserve the right to stick with the correct pronoun for his gender until the surgery is complete.) The revocation of the titles caused quite the media stir, with LGBT advocates expressing outrage, but some famous female athletes praising the decision.

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The Washington Post has taken an interest in the story and reports that Gregory is more than a bit disappointed in the decision. If this can happen to him, the powerlifter wonders, where do we “draw the line?”

Gregory said she now has “to work so much harder to lift less,” and feels her strength can’t be attributed simply to testosterone levels or physique.

“Too much emphasis is put on testosterone,” she said. “There are so many other factors that determine how much you lift: biomechanics, better leverages, joints, lengths of bones — where do we stop and draw the line? — socioeconomics and access to nutrition and coaching and gyms.”

Not for nothing, but this isn’t a question of “where do we draw the line” now. The lines have been drawn for the entirety of the recorded history of mankind. And when it comes to competitive sports, those lines are drawn straight down the middle of your 23rd chromosomal pairing. If you have an X and a Y, you stand on one side. If you have two Xs, you stand on the other. It’s the transgender social activists who are trying to blur and move those lines.

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We keep hearing the same failing arguments from activists when it comes to the subject of men competing in women’s sports. They somehow insist that the inherent advantages men have over women are either nonexistent or exaggerated. But the facts declare otherwise in the clearest fashion possible. Even with the hormone suppression treatments, Gregory is lifting more than almost any other woman, but still far less than the top male lifters. The men’s Olympic record for the snatch, clean and jerk in the 69kg weight class is 357kg (787 pounds). The women’s record in the same weight class is 275kg (606 pounds). That’s not even remotely in the same ballpark.

You can go down the list of the various competitive sports and check for yourself. (Believe me… I’ve done it.) You can’t show me one Olympic event with comparable metrics in racing, lifting or similar competitive features where the women exceed the men. Not a single one. There’s a reason for that and we all know what it is. The only ones in denial here are the activists in the trans community. And as many professional female athletes have already pointed out, we don’t need to draw the line. We need to hold the original line, or women’s competitive sports are basically going to be a thing of the past.

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