I just read something awesome on yahoo news! It deals with MTF not FTM but still a huge success for the transgender community! A MTF transitioned 5 years ago and wanted to play in the LPGA but she wasn't able to because she was born biologicaly male. The ladies in the LPGA voted and she is now allowed to join the LPGA. They voted to get rid of the "female at birth" rule. I just thought I would share!

That is pretty cool. 

I read that too, and while the story itself was very uplifting, the comments on it are just horrible! I can't believe the things people were saying. It really got me down to see so much hate towards someone who is just trying to do what they love. 

I think that it's great she can play, but I can see it from the other side as well.  Because males are, on average, physically stronger, she may be seen as having an unfair biological advantage.  Really cool that she, and anyone else in her shoes, can play now, though.

That is pretty cool. I think there are several trans-athletes out there. It is inspiring that there are people who can be totally civil and rational and not discriminatory and it can make headlines.

Thats awesome! maybe someday my dream of playing in the MLB might come true..

That is awesome news to here. Something is better then nothing and that's pretty big...

some people are just asswhipes.. Ie commenters on the article

I've never really got the whole physical advantage thing, to be honest.  Even if she is ~6 inches taller than most other competitors (not the case), that says nothing about talent, training, or even muscle size.

It always struck me as borderline sexist, this idea almost that ye random person could come in off the street and do better than a highly-skilled female athlete just because they were born male.  Even sillier is the rule when applied the opposite direction.  There was an FTM pole-vaulter who transitioned in the 80s and left competition for good because there was no way he'd be allowed to play on the men's side in the olympics (not Balian, another guy).

@Griffin

The problem with athletic advantage is that it *isn't* a random male off the street versus a highly skilled, talented and trained female athlete. It is that the trans athletes wishing to compete are often highly skilled, talented and trained athletes themselves as well.

That said, the gatekeepers of sport have erred on the side of caution, exclusion, and quite often discrimination in the past, so it's nice to see the LPGA *finally* adopt a standard more consistent with the rest of the sporting world. The "Female at Birth" rule was not about advantages or disadvantages - it was transphobia and discrimination. It presumed that a person could NEVER transition and be able to compete or be viewed as a woman. Good riddance.

That has to feel good for her, basically being voted in by her peers. Rock on LPGA.

I'm sure both of the fans of the LPGA approve.

Quote from: tekla on December 03, 2010, 10:45:51 AM
I'm sure both of the fans of the LPGA approve.

The hypnotic draw of golf collecting more spectators. 

I, uh, may or may not have had to google LPGA to figure out what we were talking about at first. 
Then again, I'm not a huge sports fan.

Quote from: Lee on December 01, 2010, 10:42:18 PM
I think that it's great she can play, but I can see it from the other side as well.  Because males are, on average, physically stronger, she may be seen as having an unfair biological advantage.  Really cool that she, and anyone else in her shoes, can play now, though.

Yes, but if she's on HRT, that advantage is gone pretty soon. I read somewhere completely objective and 100% trustworthy and infallible ( ) that trans women lose ~1/2 our upper body strength and ~1/3 our lower body strength. The number is, of course, not really reliable, since AFAIK no true research has been done on the subject, but I'd guess it's in the right ballpark, at least.

This would mean that your average male athlete could utterly dominate a female league, at least in those sports where raw strength plays a sigificant part, since the top ranges of athleticism are often dominated by milliseconds and 1/10 percentage points. But it'd also mean a trans woman athlete wouldn't be likely to have an advantage over cis woman athletes.