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news
Rachel McKinnon.PNGTrans track cyclist Rachel McKinnon blames Donald Trump Junior for increase in hate mail
Dr Rachel McKinnon says she has seen ‘a huge uptick in hate mail’ since she was the subject of a ‘Twitter tantrum’ by Donald Trump Junior in October. McKinnon became the first transgender athlete to win a world title in any sport when she took the world title in the 35-44 women’s sprint category in 2018. Retention of her title led Trump to claim that the inclusion of trans athletes would “destroy women’s sports.”
“This BS will destroy women’s sports and everything so many amazing female athletes have worked their entire lives to achieve,” he tweeted in response to a story about McKinnon’s win. “I couldn’t care less how you identify, but this isn’t right.”
Trump later added: “You can never be woke enough! Sorry to all female athletes who spent their lives mastering their games.”
Writing in the New York Times, McKinnon says she has seen a huge increase in the volume of hate mail she has received since those comments.
“I have four people who monitor my Instagram to delete hateful messages; they’ve been overwhelmed by the volume. Twitter is far worse. I’ve received death threats, but I try not to dwell on them.”
McKinnon has previously countered suggestions of unfairness by suggesting that trans inclusion is fairness. “If you want to say, ‘Well, I believe you’re a woman for all of society except this massive central part that is sport,’ then that’s not fair,” she reasons.
In the New York Times article, she tries to set her achievements in context.
She points out that while she now holds the world record in the 200-metre time trial for the 35-39 age category, her record is still slower than those in the 40-44 and 45-49 age categories.
She adds that her masters world record is 13 percent slower than the elite women’s 200-meter record set by Canadian Kelsey Mitchell.
“My current elite world ranking in the Sprint event is 105th. Ms Mitchell is on her way to represent Canada at the 2020 Olympics. I am not.”
Addressing suggestions that she benefits from having – or having had – higher levels of testosterone, she says that her body has been unable to produce testosterone since she transitioned seven years ago.
“My testosterone levels are so low that they’re undetectable, and have been that way since 2012.
“Some people think it’s unfair because they claim my body developed differently than many other women’s bodies. But women come in all sorts of different shapes and sizes, and some elite cyclists are even bigger than me. I’m six feet tall and weigh 190 pounds. Dutch track cyclist Elis Ligtlee, an Olympic gold medalist, is taller and heavier than me at 6 foot 1 inches and 198 pounds. She towered over Kristina Vogel, who at 5 foot 3 inches and 136 pounds, was the more accomplished track sprinter.
“Bigger isn’t necessarily faster. While they were still competing, these women were clearly much faster than me. I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
Speaking last month, Philippa York – who came fourth in the 1984 Tour de France as Robert Millar before transitioning after retirement – said that the idea that transgender people are going to take over women’s sport was “absolutely ridiculous.”
She highlighted what she believes are far more significant advantages that are often overlooked, such as the systems some countries have in place to help their athletes.
“If you're a full time athlete with medical backup, a support system and you're from a country that can afford to sponsor your training, then you have far more of a chance to succeed. No-one talks about that, and that's way more advantageous than your gender.”
McKinnon echoes this point in her article, saying: “Some athletes have access to the best coaches, the best equipment, the best facilities, and others don’t. Some athletes are better at tactics, or better at pushing through pain and discomfort. We already permit huge competitive advantages and call them fair, even within women’s sport.
“If you think I have an unfair competitive advantage, consider this: I lose most of my races. I won five out of 22 events in 2019; none of those I won were against strong international fields. The woman who took second place to me in the masters world championship sprint event, Dawn Orwick, beat me just days earlier in the 500-meter time trial.
“In the 12 times I’ve raced against Jennifer Wagner, who finished third to my first place in the sprint event in 2018, she beat me in seven. Wagner has beaten me more times than I’ve beaten her, head-to-head. How can I have an unfair advantage over her if she beats me most of the time? And why should my right to compete be contingent on not winning?”
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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37 comments
Whats so bad with just being a male? ...why pretend to be something you're not? I do feel bad the female's who have had their opportunities taken away from them by this guy, but I get that he wants to compete, and he should be able to. Maybe a dedicated Trans series should be established? - might make everyone feel better?
Seriously, do you know what people have to go through before transitioning, a collegue was tranitioning from femle to male but the psychological pressures put on her by the medical profession resulted in her abandoning her transition and left her a very unhappy person. Transitioning is a very difficult step and not a pretence. Would you be so cavalier to a gay cyclist?
Utter fail. She is not a "he". Regardless of what you think about trans people common courtesy would suggest that you use the reference a person prefers when taking about them.
Maybe go and do some research before posting again you're dangerously close to being a tranphobic fool.
You do not have the right to police other peoples' speech and shut them out of the discussion if they don't accede to that.
Gender dysphoria is a real illness with real consequences. But having gender dysphoria - the sincere, strong, traumatic belief of being female when biologically male, or vice versa - does not make someone a woman, or a man. It makes them someone suffering from a serious mental illness. Yes, regardless of whatever research you may wish to quote regarding feminization or masculinization of the brain. The treatment for GD cannot and should not include policing other people's speech, including use of pronouns, much as the treatment for other mental illnesses (including depression, from which I suffer) does not involve changing the behaviour of other people, only treating the sufferer.
You may hold the belief that gender is distinct from sex, and even that there are more than two genders. You're well within your rights to express those beliefs and to argue from those positions. But I do not share those beliefs, and I and any others who disagree have the right to express opposition without instantly receiving personal attacks and calls for us to be shut out of the discussion because we do not accept as fact your position, which is as yet not provable.
Homosexuality was also considered a mental ilness both in US and UK untill 60's...
Many gays' lives were made hell or ruined by people holding and defending homophobic BELIEFS.
The extent to which one is willing to be accommodating of other individual's gender identity is simply a measure of tolerance, empathy and respect... aka humanity.
No, it isn't. You're asking me to deny facts. The belief that X is Y, whether strong or weak, whether personal or collective, does not make X Y. It is as simple as that. It is the erasure of the opposing position in the name of "tolerance" that is unacceptable and it's a wider tactic used by identity politics advocates, which I'll elaborate upon in the response to the next comment.
People can disagree with a concept without being out to cause harm. If I have to refer to McKinnon, I will do so by surname and without using a pronoun. That's the appropriate balance between respecting my own beliefs and avoiding any unnecessary damage.
Unfortunately, though, even that isn't good enough for militants. See the situation of Stack Exchange (coerced speech) for how ridiculous this is getting.
This is exactly what I'm talking about.
You have decided that your position is factually correct - that gender is malleable or distinct from sex, and that a trans person is not their gender assigned at birth, but the gender that they feel themselves to be. On the basis of that assertion, you have decided that I and others are causing harm (misgendering, as you put it) through not accepting that position as fact and using a pronoun which matches that person's biological sex. You then use the idea that harm is being done by this to reframe the terms of the debate - by stating that if I don't use the pronoun that _you believe_ that person should have, I don't get a debate - instead, I get accusations of causing harm, hostility, and threats to disengage from the debate on those grounds.
That isn't an adult position in a debate. You cannot use the feelings of trans people as a weapon to prevent or dodge debate on the topic. This is why there's so much pushback against positions considered "woke" - there are many people who instead of defending the position, take the position as fact and then attack opponents as being bigoted, intolerant people who are just out to hurt trans people.
You are, of course, entirely correct. I don’t own or run road.cc so I have no say in what’s considered acceptable on this site.
But if you want to have a discussion or debate on a thorny topic then leading with hostility, which I consider misgendering someone to be, is no way to go about it. If you simply want an echo chamber that’s your own business.
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