When transgender rights come up in conservative media, a favorite talking point has always been the supposedly unfair advantage transgender women have when they compete in sporting events.
People have a natural dislike of unfairness which conservative pundits take advantage of to stoke resentment against transgender women.
Editor and Twitter user Parker Molloy is sick and tired of these nonsensical arguments. She tore them apart in an epic thread covering all angles of the subject.
Conservative media outlets don't care about these events until there's a transgender woman competing in them.
And even then, they stop shy of reporting the actual facts...
They neglect to report how the transgender athlete gave a totally normal, relatively unremarkable performance in her races.
Most transgender athletes are just normal athletes who happen to be transgender, but the media paints them as unbeatable juggernauts.
Transgender athletes either win (and spark outrage) or get ignored completely.
Human beings have a natural tendency to make mental mistakes like this one.
People's fear of unfairness and bias based on the availability heuristic can cause them to ignore the actual lack of evidence supporting their argument.
This "issue" goes back much farther than people remember.
Many conservative pundits don't seem to have a clear grasp of how hormone therapy works.
Most other "solutions" for transgender women competing in sports are similarly ill thought out.
Molloy's last point really hit home:
Even if you don't believe transgender women should be allowed to compete in sports (which they absolutely should be), it shouldn't influence your opinion on transgender rights in general.
Twitter was incredibly grateful to Molloy for so eloquently standing up for transgender women's right to compete!
The world is an exciting and complex place.
The more we step back and listen to voices like Molloy's, the better equipped we'll be to build a happier, less hateful society for everyone in it.
@elleuk/Instagram
@elleuk/Instagram
