Meta:Contributing/Code

2025-10-25T18:42:11Z

Admin: /* Workflow */

While most of our work is informative, the Community Management Community does sometimes need to design its own tools, and other pieces of software needed to keep things running smoothly. You can find our open-source projects on [https://codeberg.org/cm-community Codeberg] and [https://github.com/cm-community GitHub], though please note that we intend to fully migrate from GitHub to Codeberg in the future.

== Tooling ==
All of our projects use [https://git-scm.com/ Git] for version control, a tool we expect you to have a working understanding of before you get started. Ideally, you'll also have [https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Signing-Your-Work commit signing] set up, using either an SSH key or a GPG key that you keep as secure as possible.

Aside from this, you're welcome to use whatever code editors and assistance tools you like, as long as they aren't generative AI tools, and aren't otherwise disruptive. '''This applies regardless of whether the processing is done locally or in the cloud.''' Examples of banned tools include:

* Integrated and standalone full-scale code generators, including LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT, integrated generation tools like Copilot or Junie, and other tools like them.
* AI video, audio and image generators, including Sora, MakeSong, Midjourney, and other tools like them.
* AI text generators, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Meta AI, and other tools like them.
* Code formatters, aside from the ones we recommend in a project's documentation and files, and JetBrains' formatting plugins.
** To be more specific, we will deny all contributions that reformat any code that is unrelated to the contribution.

We make exceptions for the following AI-based tools, as no reasonable replacements exist, and they significantly improve contributions:

* [https://languagetool.org/ LanguageTool] and [https://www.jetbrains.com/grazie/ JetBrains Grazie], both of which are important spelling and grammar checkers, and help to keep your writing clean and readable. If you need to pick between them, we strongly recommend LanguageTool.
* Single-line completion tools in your IDE, such as the automatic completion provided in IntelliJ IDEA, as long as those tools don't accept any form of prompt as an input.

If you've already used a banned tool to create a contribution before reading this section, contact us immediately.

== Workflow ==

* Before you start working on a project, please check its issues and pull requests, and quickly search our Discord server, to make sure you're not duplicating someone else's work.
** If someone else is already working on your idea, consider getting in touch to see how you can help.
** If you've determined that nobody else is already working on your idea, contact us by creating an issue on the project's repository, and we'll discuss it with you.
* Once your idea is approved, fork the repository and create a new branch to work in. Creating a new branch is essential, as it makes it easier for you to pull in changes from upstream later if you end up needing to.
* Start working on your contribution, taking care to write modular, maintainable, and readable code, and avoiding any generative AI tools that we haven't specified as allowed above. Remember to test your changes, making sure they don't break existing features, and writing unit tests as appropriate.
* Open a Pull Request as early as possible — ideally after you've pushed your first commit — and mark it as a draft if it's not yet ready to be merged. This makes it easier for us to leave feedback as you work, potentially resulting in less work for you later on.
* Mark your Pull Request as ready for review once you feel your contribution is ready. Keep an eye on the Pull Request, and remember to address and respond to any reviews and comments you get there.
* Once your contribution is ready, and you've addressed all of our feedback, we'll merge it. At this point, you've finished your contribution — congratulations!

== Code Style ==
We provide a <code>.editorconfig</code> file with all of our projects, which defines our baseline code formatting expectations. Most editors either include support for this or have some kind of plugin available, so it's important to double-check that first.

Generally speaking, we expect you to follow the style already established by the project's existing code. We also encourage you to use any linters and formatters we provide a configuration for, especially since we'll be running them in CI when you submit your Pull Request.

Otherwise, keep the following points in mind:

* '''Use tabs instead of spaces where possible and realistic.''' This makes your code more accessible for blind and visually impaired developers, including those using massive fonts and Braille displays — especially where editors don't include great accessibility tools.
* '''Don't play code golf.''' Instead, use longer forms of statements where they're more readable than the shorter versions, and provide plenty of blank lines between different types of statements.
* '''Alphabetise where possible.''' Sorting lists alphabetically often makes things easier to read. It is also helpful to alphabetise lists when creating written, non-code content, as it shows readers that you didn't order the list by your (or our) preference.
* '''Consistent code is preferred over perfect code.''' It is important to be aware of the limitations of your tooling and programming languages, and it will sometimes be impossible to write code that keeps your linters happy. In those situations, it is essential to focus on functionality and readability, rather than bending over backwards to meet what the linters demand of you.

Meta:Contributing/Code

2025-10-25T18:41:55Z

Admin: /* Code Style */

While most of our work is informative, the Community Management Community does sometimes need to design its own tools, and other pieces of software needed to keep things running smoothly. You can find our open-source projects on [https://codeberg.org/cm-community Codeberg] and [https://github.com/cm-community GitHub], though please note that we intend to fully migrate from GitHub to Codeberg in the future.

== Tooling ==
All of our projects use [https://git-scm.com/ Git] for version control, a tool we expect you to have a working understanding of before you get started. Ideally, you'll also have [https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Signing-Your-Work commit signing] set up, using either an SSH key or a GPG key that you keep as secure as possible.

Aside from this, you're welcome to use whatever code editors and assistance tools you like, as long as they aren't generative AI tools, and aren't otherwise disruptive. '''This applies regardless of whether the processing is done locally or in the cloud.''' Examples of banned tools include:

* Integrated and standalone full-scale code generators, including LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT, integrated generation tools like Copilot or Junie, and other tools like them.
* AI video, audio and image generators, including Sora, MakeSong, Midjourney, and other tools like them.
* AI text generators, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Meta AI, and other tools like them.
* Code formatters, aside from the ones we recommend in a project's documentation and files, and JetBrains' formatting plugins.
** To be more specific, we will deny all contributions that reformat any code that is unrelated to the contribution.

We make exceptions for the following AI-based tools, as no reasonable replacements exist, and they significantly improve contributions:

* [https://languagetool.org/ LanguageTool] and [https://www.jetbrains.com/grazie/ JetBrains Grazie], both of which are important spelling and grammar checkers, and help to keep your writing clean and readable. If you need to pick between them, we strongly recommend LanguageTool.
* Single-line completion tools in your IDE, such as the automatic completion provided in IntelliJ IDEA, as long as those tools don't accept any form of prompt as an input.

If you've already used a banned tool to create a contribution before reading this section, contact us immediately.

== Workflow ==

* Before you start working on a project, please check its issues and pull requests, and quickly search our Discord server, to make sure you're not duplicating someone else's work.
** If someone else is already working on your idea, consider getting in touch to see how you can help.
** If you've determined that nobody else is already working on your idea, contact us by creating an issue on the project's repository, and we'll discuss it with you.
* Once your idea is approved, fork the repository and create a new branch to work in. Creating a new branch is essential, as it makes it easier for you to pull in changes from upstream later if you end up needing to.
* Start working on your contribution, taking care to write modular, maintainable, and readable code, and avoiding any generative AI tools that we haven't specified as allowed below. Remember to test your changes, making sure they don't break existing features, and writing unit tests as appropriate.
* Open a Pull Request as early as possible — ideally after you've pushed your first commit — and mark it as a draft if it's not yet ready to be merged. This makes it easier for us to leave feedback as you work, potentially resulting in less work for you later on.
* Mark your Pull Request as ready for review once you feel your contribution is ready. Keep an eye on the Pull Request, and remember to address and respond to any reviews and comments you get there.
* Once your contribution is ready, and you've addressed all of our feedback, we'll merge it. At this point, you've finished your contribution — congratulations!

== Code Style ==
We provide a <code>.editorconfig</code> file with all of our projects, which defines our baseline code formatting expectations. Most editors either include support for this or have some kind of plugin available, so it's important to double-check that first.

Generally speaking, we expect you to follow the style already established by the project's existing code. We also encourage you to use any linters and formatters we provide a configuration for, especially since we'll be running them in CI when you submit your Pull Request.

Otherwise, keep the following points in mind:

* '''Use tabs instead of spaces where possible and realistic.''' This makes your code more accessible for blind and visually impaired developers, including those using massive fonts and Braille displays — especially where editors don't include great accessibility tools.
* '''Don't play code golf.''' Instead, use longer forms of statements where they're more readable than the shorter versions, and provide plenty of blank lines between different types of statements.
* '''Alphabetise where possible.''' Sorting lists alphabetically often makes things easier to read. It is also helpful to alphabetise lists when creating written, non-code content, as it shows readers that you didn't order the list by your (or our) preference.
* '''Consistent code is preferred over perfect code.''' It is important to be aware of the limitations of your tooling and programming languages, and it will sometimes be impossible to write code that keeps your linters happy. In those situations, it is essential to focus on functionality and readability, rather than bending over backwards to meet what the linters demand of you.

Meta:Contributing/Code

2025-10-25T18:41:30Z

Admin: Bring over page

While most of our work is informative, the Community Management Community does sometimes need to design its own tools, and other pieces of software needed to keep things running smoothly. You can find our open-source projects on [https://codeberg.org/cm-community Codeberg] and [https://github.com/cm-community GitHub], though please note that we intend to fully migrate from GitHub to Codeberg in the future.

== Tooling ==
All of our projects use [https://git-scm.com/ Git] for version control, a tool we expect you to have a working understanding of before you get started. Ideally, you'll also have [https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Signing-Your-Work commit signing] set up, using either an SSH key or a GPG key that you keep as secure as possible.

Aside from this, you're welcome to use whatever code editors and assistance tools you like, as long as they aren't generative AI tools, and aren't otherwise disruptive. '''This applies regardless of whether the processing is done locally or in the cloud.''' Examples of banned tools include:

* Integrated and standalone full-scale code generators, including LLMs like Claude or ChatGPT, integrated generation tools like Copilot or Junie, and other tools like them.
* AI video, audio and image generators, including Sora, MakeSong, Midjourney, and other tools like them.
* AI text generators, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Meta AI, and other tools like them.
* Code formatters, aside from the ones we recommend in a project's documentation and files, and JetBrains' formatting plugins.
** To be more specific, we will deny all contributions that reformat any code that is unrelated to the contribution.

We make exceptions for the following AI-based tools, as no reasonable replacements exist, and they significantly improve contributions:

* [https://languagetool.org/ LanguageTool] and [https://www.jetbrains.com/grazie/ JetBrains Grazie], both of which are important spelling and grammar checkers, and help to keep your writing clean and readable. If you need to pick between them, we strongly recommend LanguageTool.
* Single-line completion tools in your IDE, such as the automatic completion provided in IntelliJ IDEA, as long as those tools don't accept any form of prompt as an input.

If you've already used a banned tool to create a contribution before reading this section, contact us immediately.

== Workflow ==

* Before you start working on a project, please check its issues and pull requests, and quickly search our Discord server, to make sure you're not duplicating someone else's work.
** If someone else is already working on your idea, consider getting in touch to see how you can help.
** If you've determined that nobody else is already working on your idea, contact us by creating an issue on the project's repository, and we'll discuss it with you.
* Once your idea is approved, fork the repository and create a new branch to work in. Creating a new branch is essential, as it makes it easier for you to pull in changes from upstream later if you end up needing to.
* Start working on your contribution, taking care to write modular, maintainable, and readable code, and avoiding any generative AI tools that we haven't specified as allowed below. Remember to test your changes, making sure they don't break existing features, and writing unit tests as appropriate.
* Open a Pull Request as early as possible — ideally after you've pushed your first commit — and mark it as a draft if it's not yet ready to be merged. This makes it easier for us to leave feedback as you work, potentially resulting in less work for you later on.
* Mark your Pull Request as ready for review once you feel your contribution is ready. Keep an eye on the Pull Request, and remember to address and respond to any reviews and comments you get there.
* Once your contribution is ready, and you've addressed all of our feedback, we'll merge it. At this point, you've finished your contribution — congratulations!

== Code Style ==
We provide a <code>.editorconfig</code> file with all of our projects, which defines our baseline code formatting expectations. Most editors either include support for this or have some kind of plugin available, so it's important to double-check that first.

Generally speaking, we expect you to follow the style already established by the project's existing code. We also encourage you to use any linters and formatters we provide a configuration for, especially since we'll be running them in CI when you submit your Pull Request.

Otherwise, keep the following points in mind:

* Use tabs instead of spaces where possible and realistic. This makes your code more accessible for blind and visually impaired developers, including those using massive fonts and Braille displays — especially where editors don't include great accessibility tools.
* Don't play code golf. Instead, use longer forms of statements where they're more readable than the shorter versions, and provide plenty of blank lines between different types of statements.
* Alphabetise where possible. Sorting lists alphabetically often makes things easier to read. It is also helpful to alphabetise lists when creating written, non-code content, as it shows readers that you didn't order the list by your (or our) preference.
* Consistent code is preferred over perfect code. It is important to be aware of the limitations of your tooling and programming languages, and it will sometimes be impossible to write code that keeps your linters happy. In those situations, it is essential to focus on functionality and readability, rather than bending over backwards to meet what the linters demand of you.

Meta:Contributing

2025-10-25T18:25:18Z

Admin:

The Community Management Community is an informal, voluntary organisation, and it relies on its community members to create and update the content on this wiki, among other things. If you're interested in giving us a hand, then you're in the right place!

There are many ways you can help us, and we appreciate all contributions — regardless of size or complexity.

== Guidelines ==
Before you read about the type of content you'd like to contribute, you must understand our general guidelines:

# Do not use generative AI tools, aside from those we specifically allow, as detailed on the pages linked below.
# Contributions must be legal, legitimate, and appropriate, and you must have the right to provide everything you contribute.
# Contributions must be respectful, useful, and honest, approaching topics pragmatically, and avoiding harassment risks.
# Work together with other members of the Community Management Community, including its staff members and other users.
#* This includes working together with others instead of duplicating their work, and responding to feedback as appropriate.
# All contributions are subject to scrutiny and approval by our staff members. You need to submit a short proposal on Discord before you start working on something, even if you already have the access level required to publish it yourself.

The Community Management Community operates on mutual respect and collaborative efforts, and we always like to remind our contributors that other members are likely to think of things they didn't originally consider. Diverse viewpoints make all of our work better, and we expect all of our members to remember that.

== Navigation ==
Once you understand the above guidelines, please get started by reading the most relevant page for your contribution below.

* [[Meta:Contributing/Art]]
* [[Meta:Contributing/Code]]
* [[Meta:Contributing/Discussion]]
* [[Meta:Contributing/Feedback]]
* [[Meta:Contributing/Writing]]
[[Category:Meta]]

Meta:Contributing

2025-10-25T17:56:41Z

Admin: Created page with "The Community Management Community is an informal, voluntary organisation, and it relies on its community members to create and update the content on this wiki, among other things. If you're interested in giving us a hand, then you're in the right place! There are many ways you can help us, and we appreciate all contributions — regardless of size or complexity. == Guidelines == Before you read about the type of content you'd like to contribute, you must understand ou..."

Disinformation/Transgender

2025-10-25T11:24:49Z

Admin:

As of this writing, many people (and governments) are hostile towards the trans community. Fuelling much of this hate is an ocean of disinformation, largely relying on a few key lies or misrepresentations.

We believe the best way to combat this disinformation is through education. This article contains all our research on relevant disinformation to date.

If you've found something that we should include here (or you have a correction), please contact us or [[Meta:Contributing|learn how to contribute]].
----{{Message
| title = Be prepared!
| text = Before you engage someone repeating disinformation, you should think about the following points:

* Are they a figurehead? You'll find it difficult to dissuade people creating disinformation, or those who use it to make a living or remain culturally relevant.
* Do they seem interested in learning? As the adage goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. You'll find it challenging to educate people who don't wish to be educated.
* How indoctrinated are they? Some people will expect your rebuttal. Groups exist that try to indoctrinate and radicalise people, and deprogramming them often requires more time and effort than any one person can put in.
* Do they rely on contradictions? A surprising amount of anti-trans rhetoric is self-contradictory. This type of disinformation exists to try to take advantage of [https://people.wku.edu/charles.smith/wallace/S434.htm phantasms], and a simple rebuttal won't help much. After all, the contradiction is the point!

Remember to prioritise your safety, energy and mental health before engaging, and expect to receive harassment if you do this in a public online space.
| style = danger
}}

== Navigation ==

* [[Disinformation/Transgender/Sports]]

[[Category:Transgender]]
[[Category:Disinformation]]

Disinformation/Transgender/Sports

2025-10-25T11:24:36Z

Admin:

The discussion regarding whether we should include trans folks in our sports (and how to categorise them) is long-running and divisive.

Before we can get into the discussion proper, though, we'll need to talk about the history of sex-based segregation in sports.

== Historical Segregation ==
It is a well-known fact that women's rights are a relatively recent concept, and that women have been (and continue to be) discriminated against for much of humanity's history. The first recognisable form of feminism (first-wave feminism) formally began in 1848<ref>[https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism Pacific University: Four Waves of Feminism]</ref>, and the beginnings of this movement focused on a defined set of grievances, regarding suffrage, government representation, marriage and divorce laws, and employment<ref>[https://www.masterclass.com/articles/first-wave-feminism MasterClass: First-Wave Feminism: Timeline and Criticisms]</ref>.

As late as the 1970s, there were few roles considered "gender appropriate" for women and girls<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-t3EEAAAQBAJ Google Books: Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not Equal by Adrienne N. Milner and Jomills Henry Braddock II]</ref>. Society expected them to focus on traditional (and low-wage if they were working) roles, such as cooking, cleaning, home-making and cosmetology. When organised sports appeared in the US in the 19th century, we discouraged or outright banned women and girls from participating, resulting in sports largely being characterised as male-dominated and even hypermasculine, something that persists today.

[[wikipedia:Title_IX|Title IX]], which prohibits sex-based discrimination in all government-funded forms of education, was heavily contested by opponents who wished to restrict the rights of women in athletics, lobbying to exclude it<ref name=":0" />. For example, the NCAA's executive director stated that Title IX was the "possible doom of intercollegiate sports", and Senator John Tower (TX) proposed amendments to exclude women from revenue-generating sports.

The idea of segregating sports by sex today relies on some assumption that women on average perform less well than men<ref name=":1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24757601 JSTOR: Constructing Gender Incommensurability in Competitive Sport: Sex/Gender Testing and the New Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism by Marion Müller]</ref>. They explain that early big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were above expectations, by establishing "gender verifications" that accused those women of fraud. This happened even though there was (and is) no scientific proof such segregation makes logical sense on any material basis.

The thought process used to justify this segregation was, in fact, a tool used by segregationists to try to prove that material differences existed<ref name=":1" />. It seems as if this form of segregation exists to prevent us from making direct comparisons between the performance of the sexes in sports and athletics, which would prove beyond a doubt that there's no material difference. In fact, the implementation of sex-based segregation in fencing, rifle shooting and skeet shooting only began after a woman won against male competitors, implying that it only exists to reinforce masculine stereotypes. In some situations, opponents would even forfeit once they realised they were competing against a girl<ref>[https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijlse/vol8/iss1/3/ Indiana University Maurer School of Law: There’s Nothing Worse than Losing to a Girl: An Analysis of Sex Segregation in American Youth Sports]</ref>.

When decades of attempts to prove that women performed less well than men at sports failed, sports organisations tried to find new reasons to continue to segregate sports by sex<ref name=":1" />. We can see examples of this in the media as recently as 2023, when [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/human-rights-court-rules-in-favor-of-olympic-champion-semenya-over-testosterone-rules Olympic medallist Caster Semenya won a court case that declared it was discriminatory for World Athletics to exclude her based on her natural testosterone levels].

While racism isn't the focus of this article, it is also worth noting that the regulations on testosterone levels are likely racist<ref>[https://www.allure.com/story/caster-semenya-ruling-op-ed Allure: White Fragility & the Ruling Against Caster Semenya]</ref>. This is partly because black women often have their femininity denied by racists, and many believe the regulations only used white women's testosterone levels as a guideline.

== Trans Segregation ==
Sports organisations tend to see gender ambiguity (which may be challenging to categorise) as a threat<ref name=":1" />. They further attempt to justify their segregation by measuring "hyperandrogenism", or heightened levels of testosterone, excluding women who produce more of it and don't go through medical treatments to lower it. However, this only proves Müller's point — that this doesn't represent a meaningful difference in performance. Instead, it is simply an extension of institutions' wish to continue to segregate sports by sex, apparently in an appeal to traditional values.

This train of thought also affects trans folks, sometimes in contradictory ways. Those who believe in biological essentialism may state that one's biology defines much of their sporting ability, stating that trans-feminine folks have an innate physical advantage due to being born male. As the big sports organisations use testosterone as a measure of "maleness," it is unsurprising those who support excluding trans-feminine folks from organised sports use the heightened testosterone levels of those assigned male at birth as a justification. They also usually ignore non-binary and trans-masculine folks, groups that tend to contradict many of their other arguments.

# '''The assumption that testosterone has a measurable effect on the performance of an athlete has little scientific basis, according to many studies:'''
#* Testosterone does not impact lean mass or hand grip strength in women<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89232-1 Nature: Total testosterone is not associated with lean mass or handgrip strength in pre-menopausal females]</ref>.
#* There's no evidence that including trans-feminine folks in sport would be unfair<ref name=":2">[[:File:CCES- Transgender Women Atheletes and Elite Sport- A Scientific Review (2023).pdf|CCES: Transgender Women Athletes and Elite Sport: A Scientific Review (2023)]] (re-uploaded as [https://cces.ca/transgender-women-athletes-and-elite-sport-scientific-review the original source has disappeared])</ref>.
#* Regulations on testosterone levels were justified using significantly flawed data, and that the data, when corrected, contradicts the conclusion that the IAAF put forward. The IAAF also neglected to have their research peer-reviewed, and it contained a significant number of basic errors, such as duplicated athletes<ref>[https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40318-019-00143-w SpringerLink: Scientific integrity and the IAAF testosterone regulations by Roger Pielke Jr., Ross Ticker & Erik Boye]</ref>.
#* The study used by the IAAF to justify its policies can only assert that raised testosterone levels had a positive impact on athletic ability for a couple of events. The data for 16 other events showed no impact, and for several other events, raised testosterone levels negatively impacted the athletes' abilities.
#* Coming up with a definition of "normal" testosterone levels is hard, and that one's testosterone levels naturally fluctuate constantly. Experts from different societies, countries, and even laboratories often don't agree on what a "normal" level of testosterone is<ref name=":3">[https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587 The Conversation: Testosterone: why defining a 'normal' level is hard to do]</ref>.
# '''While not all trans-feminine folks will, many of them do decide to undergo [[wikipedia:Transgender_hormone_therapy|hormone replacement therapy]], or HRT.''' HRT is a form of hormone therapy, which involves the administering of hormonal medications to help align trans folks' secondary sexual characteristics with their gender. This medication usually takes two forms, typically administered together:
#* Hormone blockers, which lower the production of a given hormone or inhibit the receptors for that hormone.
#* Medication providing supplemental hormones, matching the trans folk's gender and keeping their hormonal balance healthy. For pre-surgery trans-feminine folks, this medication will typically lower their testosterone levels and raise their oestrogen levels. This would imply that any potentially measurable benefits granted by their prior testosterone levels would become nullified through their medical treatment. Here's what the science has to say:
#* Feminising HRT lowers strength, hemoglobin levels, muscle area and lean body mass in trans-feminine folks<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8311086/ PubMed Central: How does hormone transition in transgender women change body composition, muscle strength and haemoglobin? Systematic review with a focus on the implications for sport participation by Joanna Harper, Emma O'Donnell, Behzad Sorouri Khorashad, Hilary McDermott & Gemma L Witcomb]</ref>. It also results in bone density compromise, and after 4 years, their muscle and fat mass, and performance is no different to that of cisgender women<ref name=":4">[https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/109/2/e455/7223439 JCEM: The Impact of Gender-Affirming Hormone Therapy on Physical Performance by Ada S Cheung, Sav Zwickl, Kirsti Miller, Brendan J Nolan, Alex Fang Qi Wong, Patrice Jones & Nir Eynon]</ref>. Current research suggests that trans women aren't physically different to cis women in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5">[https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.05.25326994v1 medRxiv: Physical Fitness and Body Composition in Transgender vs. Cisgender Individuals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis by Sofia Mendes Sieczkowska, Bruna Caruso Mazzolani, Danilo Reis Coimbra, Igor Longobardi, Andresa Rossilho Casale, José Davi F.V.M.P. da Hora & Hamilton Roschel]</ref>.
#* Masculinising HRT in non-athletic trans-masculine folks results in a performance level no different to cisgender men after 1 to 3 years.<ref name=":4" /> Current research suggests that trans men aren't physically different to cis men in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5" />. While studies opine that trans-feminine folks may generally retain some minor long-term advantages over cisgender women, competitive sports organisations already accept and account for similar deviations in abilities and advantages in cisgender women<ref name=":2" />.
# '''While advocates for banning trans folks from sports often use children as a talking point, claims that banning trans children from sports is an issue of protecting other children seem nebulous at best:'''
#* Lawmakers have largely been unable to cite local examples of trans girls competing in sports. Where examples are available, there appears to be no evidence that including trans children results in competitive unfairness<ref>[https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7 Associated Press: Lawmakers can’t cite local examples of trans girls in sports]</ref>.
#* The "protect the children" rhetoric has been used to demonise members of the LGBT+ community since the early 1900s, and potentially even earlier than that<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/24/groomer-lgbtq-germany-children/ Washington Post (now paywalled): The 'groomer' anti-LGBTQ+ panic is not new — and has caused immense harm]</ref>.
# '''Advocates for banning trans folks from sports often include non-physical sports, coming up with the same conclusions. This suggests that this is more about transphobia and misogyny than any idea of fairness:'''
#* A trans-feminine snooker player, faced harassment after her tournament win. This included calls from former world number one Maria Catalano, who called for trans players to be banned from women's tournaments<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/62821241 BBC Sport: Transgender snooker player Jamie Hunter criticised after winning US Women's Snooker Open]</ref>.
#* The International Chess Federation (FIDE) effectively declared that women are less intelligent than men. It effectively banned trans women from competing in women's competitions for up to two years, and decided to remove some titles won by both trans men and women in their respective categories<ref>[https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194593562/chess-transgender-fide-pushback NPR: World chess just placed restrictions on both trans women and trans men]</ref>.
#* Professional pool player Lynne Pinches turned down her first ever professional contract, when the World Eightball Pool Federation reversed its ban on trans players<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/68183503 BBC Sport: Lynne Pinches: Pool player rejects professional contract after transgender policy U-turn]</ref>.
#* Several cis Dutch women's darts veterans quit when they realised their team included a trans woman, complaining about fairness in the sport<ref>[https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240325-dutch-women-s-darts-veterans-quit-over-transgender-team-mate France 24: Dutch women's darts veterans quit over transgender team-mate]</ref>.
#* [https://www.shewon.org/ SheWon.org] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/https://www.shewon.org/ Wayback Machine]) frames trans-feminine athletes as "males in women's sporting events" that stole cis women's achievements by beating them, lists various non-physical sports, including billiards, darts, esports, poker, pool, and snooker. It also lists numerous "non-athletic competitions", including Jeopardy game show wins, beauty competitions, scholarships, democratic elections, Forbes lists, and hot-dog-eating competitions. The site also contains a list of trans-feminine athletes, including many of their deadnames. Additionally, as is typical for those who would exclude trans folks from sports, the site pretends that trans-masculine folks don't exist. Websites like this exist to justify hate, rather than discuss current issues on their merits. This is just one example of a huge number of outlets for similar hate campaigns.

== Direct Impact ==
It goes without saying that this page wouldn't exist, had there been no reason to discuss this disinformation. Unfortunately, the disinformation discussed above has had many real-world consequences.

The following points are true as of April 2024:

* In 2023, [https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/council-meeting-march-2023-russia-belarus-female-eligibility World Athletics introduced new regulations] regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes and female athletes with "differences of sex development". These regulations require female athletes with "differences of sexual development" to medicate for at least two years, with the aim of reducing their testosterone levels. This requirement applies to all events, including those that were previously unrestricted. They also ban all trans-feminine athletes who had a male puberty from participating in female World Rankings competitions. Due to the current state of trans healthcare legislation, this impacts most trans-feminine individuals, and this problem is likely to get worse due to the current political climate. In what we can only describe as cruel irony, these regulations came into effect on the 31st of March 2023, Transgender Day of Visibility. These new regulations also affected many cis women of colour<ref name=":6">[https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/03/24/trans-women-banned-from-track-and-field-intersex-athletes-restricted/ Washington Blade: Trans women banned from track and field, intersex athletes restricted]</ref>, effectively banning them from competing due to their race<ref name=":3" />.
* Government officials attempted to pass at least 48 bills<ref>[https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=school__sports ACLU: 2024 Political Attacks on LGBTQ Rights: School Sports Bans] </ref> attempting to ban trans youth from participating in school sports or in teams that correspond with their gender in 2024. They also attempted to pass 33 bills<ref>[https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=school__facilities ACLU: 2024 Political Attacks on LGBTQ Rights: School Facilities Bans]</ref> restricting access to school facilities for trans youth. Four related bills have passed so far this year:
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/AL/SB129 AL SB129]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/ID/H0455 ID H0455]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/UT/HB0172 UT HB0172]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/WI/AB377 WI AB377]
* Excluding women based on their hormone levels does little to contribute to equal opportunities for them. For example, Maximila Imali, a top Kenyan runner disqualified due to her high testosterone levels, is struggling to support her partner and family, feed her son and pay the rent<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/world/africa/olympic-intersex-maximila-imali.html New York Times: An Olympic Dream Falters Amid Track’s Shifting Rules]</ref>. Banning female athletes from their careers serves to make them poorer, and may prevent them from meeting an acceptable quality of life. We're unsure what mental gymnastics one needs to characterise this as "protecting women", but that's how World Athletics puts it: "This is why we introduced the eligibility regulation and why it must be defended: to ensure fair competition for all women."<ref>[https://worldathletics.org/news/press-release/questions-answers-iaaf-female-eligibility-reg World Athletics: IAAF publishes briefing notes and Q&A on Female Eligibility Regulations]</ref> As mentioned above, this also seems to have a disproportionate effect on women of colour<ref name=":6" />.

== Conclusion ==
While further research is necessary to fully understand the effects of transitioning on one's body, the above context shows that there's no real reason to exclude trans folks from sports. Indeed, the scientific evidence seems to contradict every argument made supporting banning trans folks, and it also seems that many advocates for that aren't arguing based on any reasonable or factual basis.

While it is impossible for any article to be absolutely inclusive of all possible information, we believe that the context we've provided above shows that there's no reasonable basis for excluding trans folks from sport. If you come across further studies or information that you feel should be included here, please contact us or [[Meta:Contributing|learn how to contribute]].

== References ==
<references />
[[Category:Transgender]]
[[Category:Disinformation]]

MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips

2025-10-25T11:17:33Z

Admin: Created page with "<sup><abbr title="{{int:gadgets-default}}">(D)</abbr></sup> [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reference_Tooltips Reference Tooltips]: hover over inline citations to see reference information without moving away from the article text (does not work if "Navigation popups" is enabled above)"

<sup><abbr title="{{int:gadgets-default}}">(D)</abbr></sup> [https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Reference_Tooltips Reference Tooltips]: hover over inline citations to see reference information without moving away from the article text (does not work if "Navigation popups" is enabled above)

MediaWiki:Gadgets-definition

2025-10-25T11:16:58Z

MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.css

2025-10-25T11:16:40Z

Admin: Created page with "/* See mw:Reference Tooltips */ .rt-overlay { position: absolute; width: 100%; font-size: calc(var(--font-size-medium, 1rem) * (13 / 14)); line-height: 1.5em; /* Remove after https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T369880 is resolved and $teleportTarget is assigned */ z-index: 800; /* match z-index-tooltip in https://doc.wikimedia.org/codex/latest/design-tokens/z-index.html */ top: 0; } /* Remove after https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T369880 is resolved and $t..."

/* See [[mw:Reference Tooltips]] */

.rt-overlay {
position: absolute;
width: 100%;
font-size: calc(var(--font-size-medium, 1rem) * (13 / 14));
line-height: 1.5em;

/* Remove after https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T369880 is resolved and $teleportTarget is assigned */
z-index: 800; /* match z-index-tooltip in https://doc.wikimedia.org/codex/latest/design-tokens/z-index.html */
top: 0;
}

/* Remove after https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T369880 is resolved and $teleportTarget is assigned */
.skin-vector-legacy .rt-overlay {
font-size: 13px;
}

.skin-monobook .rt-overlay {
font-size: 12.7px;
}

.rt-tooltip {
position: absolute;
max-width: 27em;
background: var(--background-color-base, #fff);
color: var(--color-base, #202122);
border: 1px solid var(--border-color-subtle, #c8ccd1);
border-radius: 2px;
box-shadow: 0 20px 48px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
}

html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .rt-tooltip {
box-shadow: 0 20px 48px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);
}

/* Extend the tooltip vertically to make sure it doesn't disappear while the user moves the mouse to it */
.rt-tooltip-above .rt-hoverArea {
margin-bottom: -0.6em;
padding-bottom: 0.6em;
}

.rt-tooltip-below .rt-hoverArea {
margin-top: -0.7em;
padding-top: 0.7em;
}

.rt-scroll {
overflow-x: auto;
}

.rt-content {
padding: 0.7em 0.9em;
overflow-wrap: break-word;
}

.rt-tail {
/* Use 48%, not 50%, to make the tail start at a right place in Blink browsers in Windows on bigger system font sizes */
background: linear-gradient(to top right, var(--border-color-subtle, #c8ccd1) 48%, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) 48%);

--tail-left: 19px;
--tail-side-width: 13px;
}

.rt-tail,
.rt-tail:after {
position: absolute;

/* Make sure the tail is behind the scrollbar, e.g. [73] at
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lemniscate_elliptic_functions&oldid=1231701944#cite_ref-73
if .rt-tooltip has width of 25em */
z-index: -1;

width: var(--tail-side-width);
height: var(--tail-side-width);
}

.rt-tail:after {
content: '';
background: var(--background-color-base, #fff);
bottom: 1px;
left: 1px;
}

.rt-tooltip-above .rt-tail {
transform: rotate(-45deg);
transform-origin: 100% 100%;
bottom: 0;
left: var(--tail-left);
}

.rt-tooltip-below .rt-tail {
transform: rotate(135deg);
transform-origin: 0 0;
top: 0;
left: calc(var(--tail-left) + var(--tail-side-width));
}

.rt-settingsLink {
background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2024%2024%22%3E%0D%0A%20%20%20%20%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%2354595d%22%20d%3D%22M20%2014.5v-2.9l-1.8-.3c-.1-.4-.3-.8-.6-1.4l1.1-1.5-2.1-2.1-1.5%201.1c-.5-.3-1-.5-1.4-.6L13.5%205h-2.9l-.3%201.8c-.5.1-.9.3-1.4.6L7.4%206.3%205.3%208.4l1%201.5c-.3.5-.4.9-.6%201.4l-1.7.2v2.9l1.8.3c.1.5.3.9.6%201.4l-1%201.5%202.1%202.1%201.5-1c.4.2.9.4%201.4.6l.3%201.8h3l.3-1.8c.5-.1.9-.3%201.4-.6l1.5%201.1%202.1-2.1-1.1-1.5c.3-.5.5-1%20.6-1.4l1.5-.3zM12%2016c-1.7%200-3-1.3-3-3s1.3-3%203-3%203%201.3%203%203-1.3%203-3%203z%22%2F%3E%0D%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E);
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box-sizing: border-box;
height: 32px;
width: 32px;
border: 1px solid transparent;
border-radius: 2px;
background-position: center center;
background-repeat: no-repeat;
background-size: 24px 24px;
}

html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .rt-settingsLink {
background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%22%20viewBox%3D%220%200%2024%2024%22%3E%0D%0A%20%20%20%20%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%23c8ccd1%22%20d%3D%22M20%2014.5v-2.9l-1.8-.3c-.1-.4-.3-.8-.6-1.4l1.1-1.5-2.1-2.1-1.5%201.1c-.5-.3-1-.5-1.4-.6L13.5%205h-2.9l-.3%201.8c-.5.1-.9.3-1.4.6L7.4%206.3%205.3%208.4l1%201.5c-.3.5-.4.9-.6%201.4l-1.7.2v2.9l1.8.3c.1.5.3.9.6%201.4l-1%201.5%202.1%202.1%201.5-1c.4.2.9.4%201.4.6l.3%201.8h3l.3-1.8c.5-.1.9-.3%201.4-.6l1.5%201.1%202.1-2.1-1.1-1.5c.3-.5.5-1%20.6-1.4l1.5-.3zM12%2016c-1.7%200-3-1.3-3-3s1.3-3%203-3%203%201.3%203%203-1.3%203-3%203z%22%2F%3E%0D%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E);
}

.rt-settingsLink:hover,
.rt-settingsLink:active {
background-color: var(--background-color-interactive, #eaecf0);
}

.rt-settingsLink:active {
border-color: var(--border-color-interactive, #72777d);
}

.rt-settingsLink:focus {
outline: 1px solid transparent;
}

.rt-settingsLink:focus:not(:active) {
border-color: var(--border-color-progressive--focus, #36c);
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 1px var(--box-shadow-color-progressive--focus, #36c);
}

.rt-target {
background-color: var(--background-color-progressive-subtle, #eaf3ff);
}

.rt-enableField {
font-weight: bold;
margin-bottom: 1.25em;
}

.rt-numberInput.rt-numberInput {
width: 10em;
}

.rt-tooltipsForCommentsField.rt-tooltipsForCommentsField.rt-tooltipsForCommentsField {
margin-top: 1.25em;
}

.rt-disabledHelp {
border-collapse: collapse;
}

.rt-disabledHelp td {
padding: 0;
}

.rt-disabledNote.rt-disabledNote {
vertical-align: bottom;
padding-left: 0.36em;
font-weight: bold;
}

@keyframes rt-fade-in-up {
0% {
opacity: 0;
transform: translate(0, 20px);
}
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opacity: 1;
transform: translate(0, 0);
}
}

@keyframes rt-fade-in-down {
0% {
opacity: 0;
transform: translate(0, -20px);
}
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opacity: 1;
transform: translate(0, 0);
}
}

@keyframes rt-fade-out-down {
0% {
opacity: 1;
transform: translate(0, 0);
}
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opacity: 0;
transform: translate(0, 20px);
}
}

@keyframes rt-fade-out-up {
0% {
opacity: 1;
transform: translate(0, 0);
}
100% {
opacity: 0;
transform: translate(0, -20px);
}
}

.rt-fade-in-up {
animation: rt-fade-in-up 0.2s ease forwards;
}

.rt-fade-in-down {
animation: rt-fade-in-down 0.2s ease forwards;
}

.rt-fade-out-down {
animation: rt-fade-out-down 0.2s ease forwards;
}

.rt-fade-out-up {
animation: rt-fade-out-up 0.2s ease forwards;
}

MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js

2025-10-25T11:16:19Z

Admin: Created page with "// See mw:Reference Tooltips // Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js /*eslint space-in-parens: ["error", "always"], array-bracket-spacing: ["error", "always"]*/ ( function () { // If you're loading the script from another wiki and want to set your settings, do that in `window` // properties with `rt_` prefix, e.g. // window.rt_REF_LINK_SELECTOR = '...'; // They will be used instead of enwiki detaults. var REF_LINK_SELECTOR =..."

// See [[mw:Reference Tooltips]]
// Source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Gadget-ReferenceTooltips.js

/*eslint space-in-parens: ["error", "always"], array-bracket-spacing: ["error", "always"]*/

( function () {

// If you're loading the script from another wiki and want to set your settings, do that in `window`
// properties with `rt_` prefix, e.g.
// window.rt_REF_LINK_SELECTOR = '...';
// They will be used instead of enwiki detaults.
var REF_LINK_SELECTOR = window.rt_REF_LINK_SELECTOR || '.reference, a[href^="#CITEREF"]',
COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS = window.rt_COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS || 'rt-commentedText',
COMMENTED_TEXT_SELECTOR = (
window.rt_COMMENTED_TEXT_SELECTOR ||
( COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS ? '.' + COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS + ', ' : '' ) +
'abbr[title]'
);

if ( mw.messages.get( 'rt-settings' ) === null ) {
mw.messages.set( {
'rt-settings': 'Reference Tooltips settings',
'rt-enable-footer': 'Enable Reference Tooltips',
'rt-settings-title': 'Reference Tooltips',
'rt-save': 'Save',
'rt-enable': 'Enable Reference Tooltips',
'rt-activationMethod': 'Show a tooltip when I\'m',
'rt-hovering': 'hovering a reference',
'rt-clicking': 'clicking a reference',
'rt-delay': 'Delay before the tooltip appears (in milliseconds)',
'rt-tooltipsForComments': 'Show the tooltip over <span title="Tooltip example" class="' + ( COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS || 'rt-commentedText' ) + '" style="border-bottom: 1px dotted; cursor: help;">text with a dotted underline</span> in Reference Tooltips style (allows to see such tooltips on devices with no mouse support)',
'rt-disabledNote': 'You can re-enable Reference Tooltips using a link in the footer of the page.',
'rt-done': 'Done',
'rt-enabled': 'Reference Tooltips are enabled'
} );
}

// "Global" variables
var SECONDS_IN_A_DAY = 60 * 60 * 24,
CLASSES = {
FADE_IN_DOWN: 'rt-fade-in-down',
FADE_IN_UP: 'rt-fade-in-up',
FADE_OUT_DOWN: 'rt-fade-out-down',
FADE_OUT_UP: 'rt-fade-out-up'
},
IS_TOUCHSCREEN = 'ontouchstart' in document.documentElement,
// Quite a rough check for mobile browsers, a mix of what is advised at
// https://stackoverflow.com/a/24600597 (sends to
// https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Browser_detection_using_the_user_agent)
// and https://stackoverflow.com/a/14301832
IS_MOBILE = /Mobi|Android/i.test( navigator.userAgent ) ||
typeof window.orientation !== 'undefined',
CLIENT_NAME = $.client.profile().name,
settingsString, settings, enabled, delay, activatedByClick, tooltipsForComments, cursorWaitCss,
windowManager, $teleportTarget,
$body = $( document.body ),
$window = $( window ),
$overlay = $( '<div>' )
.addClass( 'rt-overlay' )
.appendTo( $body );

// Can't use before https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T369880 is resolved
// mw.loader.using( 'mediawiki.page.ready' ).then( function ( require ) {
// $teleportTarget = $( require( 'mediawiki.page.ready' ).teleportTarget );
// $overlay.appendTo( $teleportTarget );
// } );

function rt( $content ) {
// Popups gadget
if ( window.pg ) {
return;
}

var teSelector,
settingsDialogOpening = false;

function setSettingsCookie() {
mw.cookie.set(
'RTsettings',
(
Number( enabled ) +
'|' +
delay +
'|' +
Number( activatedByClick ) +
'|' +
Number( tooltipsForComments )
),
{ path: '/', expires: 90 * SECONDS_IN_A_DAY, prefix: '' }
);
}

function enableRt() {
enabled = true;
setSettingsCookie();
$( '.rt-enableItem' ).remove();
rt( $content );
mw.notify( mw.msg( 'rt-enabled' ) );
}

function disableRt() {
$content.find( teSelector ).removeClass( 'rt-commentedText' ).off( '.rt' );
$body.off( '.rt' );
$window.off( '.rt' );
}

function addEnableLink() {
// #footer-places – Vector
// #f-list – Timeless, Monobook, Modern
// parent of #footer li – Cologne Blue
var $footer = $( '#footer-places, #f-list' );
if ( !$footer.length ) {
$footer = $( '#footer li' ).parent();
}
if ( !$footer.find( '.rt-enableItem' ).length ) {
$footer.append(
$( '<li>' )
.addClass( 'rt-enableItem' )
.append(
$( '<a>' )
.text( mw.msg( 'rt-enable-footer' ) )
.attr( 'href', '#' )
.click( function ( e ) {
e.preventDefault();
enableRt();
} )
)
);
}
}

function TooltippedElement( $element ) {
var events,
te = this;

function onStartEvent( e ) {
var showRefArgs;

if ( activatedByClick && te.type !== 'commentedText' && e.type !== 'contextmenu' ) {
e.preventDefault();
}
if ( !te.noRef ) {
showRefArgs = [ $( this ) ];
if ( te.type !== 'supRef' ) {
showRefArgs.push( e.pageX, e.pageY );
}
te.showRef.apply( te, showRefArgs );
}
}

function onEndEvent() {
if ( !te.noRef ) {
te.hideRef();
}
}

if ( !$element ) {
return;
}

// TooltippedElement.$element and TooltippedElement.$originalElement will be different when
// the first is changed after its cloned version is hovered in a tooltip
this.$element = $element;
this.$originalElement = $element;
if ( this.$element.is( REF_LINK_SELECTOR ) ) {
if ( this.$element.prop( 'tagName' ) === 'SUP' ) {
this.type = 'supRef';
} else {
this.type = 'harvardRef';
}
} else {
this.type = 'commentedText';
this.comment = this.$element.attr( 'title' );
if ( !this.comment ) {
return;
}
this.$element.addClass( 'rt-commentedText' );
}

if ( activatedByClick ) {
events = {
'click.rt': onStartEvent
};
// Adds an ability to see tooltips for links
if (
this.type === 'commentedText' &&
( this.$element.closest( 'a' ).length || this.$element.has( 'a' ).length )
) {
events[ 'contextmenu.rt' ] = onStartEvent;
}
} else {
events = {
'mouseenter.rt': onStartEvent,
'mouseleave.rt': onEndEvent
};
}

this.$element.on( events );

this.hideRef = function ( immediately ) {
clearTimeout( te.showTimer );

if ( this.type === 'commentedText' ) {
this.$element.attr( 'title', this.comment );
}

if ( this.tooltip && this.tooltip.isPresent ) {
if ( activatedByClick || immediately ) {
this.tooltip.hide();
} else {
this.hideTimer = setTimeout( function () {
te.tooltip.hide();
}, 200 );
}
} else if ( this.$ref && this.$ref.hasClass( 'rt-target' ) ) {
this.$ref.removeClass( 'rt-target' );
if ( activatedByClick ) {
$body.off( 'click.rt touchstart.rt', this.onBodyClick );
}
}
};

this.showRef = function ( $element, ePageX, ePageY ) {
// Popups gadget
if ( window.pg ) {
disableRt();
return;
}

if ( this.tooltip && !this.tooltip.$content.length ) {
return;
}

var tooltipInitiallyPresent = this.tooltip && this.tooltip.isPresent;

function reallyShow() {
var viewportTop, refOffsetTop, teHref;

if ( !te.$ref && !te.comment ) {
teHref = te.type === 'supRef' ?
te.$element.find( 'a' ).attr( 'href' ) :
te.$element.attr( 'href' ); // harvardRef
te.$ref = teHref &&
$( '#' + $.escapeSelector( teHref.slice( 1 ) ) );
if ( !te.$ref || !te.$ref.length || !te.$ref.text() ) {
te.noRef = true;
return;
}
}

if ( !tooltipInitiallyPresent && !te.comment ) {
viewportTop = $window.scrollTop();
refOffsetTop = te.$ref.offset().top;
if (
!activatedByClick &&
viewportTop < refOffsetTop &&
viewportTop + $window.height() > refOffsetTop + te.$ref.height() &&
// There can be gadgets/scripts that make references horizontally scrollable.
$window.width() > te.$ref.offset().left + te.$ref.width()
) {
// Highlight the reference itself
te.$ref.addClass( 'rt-target' );
return;
}
}

if ( !te.tooltip ) {
te.tooltip = new Tooltip( te );
if ( !te.tooltip.$content.length ) {
return;
}
}

// If this tooltip is called from inside another tooltip. We can't define it
// in the constructor since a ref can be cloned but have the same Tooltip object;
// so, Tooltip.parent is a floating value.
te.tooltip.parent = te.$element.closest( '.rt-tooltip' ).data( 'tooltip' );
if ( te.tooltip.parent && te.tooltip.parent.disappearing ) {
return;
}

te.tooltip.show();

if ( tooltipInitiallyPresent ) {
if ( te.tooltip.$element.hasClass( 'rt-tooltip-above' ) ) {
te.tooltip.$element.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_DOWN );
} else {
te.tooltip.$element.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_UP );
}
return;
}

te.tooltip.calculatePosition( ePageX, ePageY );

$window.on( 'resize.rt', te.onWindowResize );
}

// We redefine this.$element here because e.target can be a reference link inside
// a reference tooltip, not a link that was initially assigned to this.$element
this.$element = $element;

if ( this.type === 'commentedText' ) {
this.$element.attr( 'title', '' );
}

if ( activatedByClick ) {
if (
tooltipInitiallyPresent ||
( this.$ref && this.$ref.hasClass( 'rt-target' ) )
) {
return;
} else {
setTimeout( function () {
$body.on( 'click.rt touchstart.rt', te.onBodyClick );
}, 0 );
}
}

if ( activatedByClick || tooltipInitiallyPresent ) {
reallyShow();
} else {
this.showTimer = setTimeout( reallyShow, delay );
}
};

this.onBodyClick = function ( e ) {
if ( !te.tooltip && !( te.$ref && te.$ref.hasClass( 'rt-target' ) ) ) {
return;
}

var $current = $( e.target );

function contextMatchesParameter( parameter ) {
return this === parameter;
}

// The last condition is used to determine cases when a clicked tooltip is the current
// element's tooltip or one of its descendants
while (
$current.length &&
(
!$current.hasClass( 'rt-tooltip' ) ||
!$current.data( 'tooltip' ) ||
!$current.data( 'tooltip' ).upToTopParent(
contextMatchesParameter, [ te.tooltip ],
true
)
)
) {
$current = $current.parent();
}
if ( !$current.length ) {
te.hideRef();
}
};

this.onWindowResize = function () {
te.tooltip.calculatePosition();
};
}

function Tooltip( te ) {
function openSettingsDialog() {
var settingsDialog, settingsWindow;

if ( cursorWaitCss ) {
cursorWaitCss.disabled = true;
}

function SettingsDialog() {
SettingsDialog.parent.call( this );
}
OO.inheritClass( SettingsDialog, OO.ui.ProcessDialog );

SettingsDialog.static.name = 'settingsDialog';
SettingsDialog.static.title = mw.msg( 'rt-settings-title' );
SettingsDialog.static.actions = [
{
modes: 'main',
action: 'save',
label: mw.msg( 'rt-save' ),
flags: [ 'primary', 'progressive' ]
},
{
modes: 'main',
flags: [ 'safe', 'close' ]
},
{
modes: 'disabled',
action: 'deactivated',
label: mw.msg( 'rt-done' ),
flags: [ 'primary', 'progressive' ]
}
];

SettingsDialog.prototype.initialize = function () {
var dialog = this;

SettingsDialog.parent.prototype.initialize.apply( this, arguments );

this.enableCheckbox = new OO.ui.CheckboxInputWidget( {
selected: true
} );
this.enableCheckbox.on( 'change', function ( selected ) {
dialog.activationMethodSelect.setDisabled( !selected );
dialog.delayInput.setDisabled( !selected || dialog.clickOption.isSelected() );
dialog.tooltipsForCommentsCheckbox.setDisabled( !selected );
} );
this.enableField = new OO.ui.FieldLayout( this.enableCheckbox, {
label: mw.msg( 'rt-enable' ),
align: 'inline',
classes: [ 'rt-enableField' ]
} );

this.hoverOption = new OO.ui.RadioOptionWidget( {
label: mw.msg( 'rt-hovering' )
} );
this.clickOption = new OO.ui.RadioOptionWidget( {
label: mw.msg( 'rt-clicking' )
} );
this.activationMethodSelect = new OO.ui.RadioSelectWidget( {
items: [ this.hoverOption, this.clickOption ]
} );
this.activationMethodSelect.selectItem(
activatedByClick ? this.clickOption : this.hoverOption
);
this.activationMethodSelect.on( 'choose', function ( item ) {
dialog.delayInput.setDisabled( item === dialog.clickOption );
} );
this.activationMethodField = new OO.ui.FieldLayout( this.activationMethodSelect, {
label: mw.msg( 'rt-activationMethod' ),
align: 'top'
} );

this.delayInput = new OO.ui.NumberInputWidget( {
input: { value: delay },
step: 50,
min: 0,
max: 5000,
disabled: activatedByClick,
classes: [ 'rt-numberInput' ]
} );
this.delayField = new OO.ui.FieldLayout( this.delayInput, {
label: mw.msg( 'rt-delay' ),
align: 'top'
} );

this.tooltipsForCommentsCheckbox = new OO.ui.CheckboxInputWidget( {
selected: tooltipsForComments
} );
this.tooltipsForCommentsField = new OO.ui.FieldLayout(
this.tooltipsForCommentsCheckbox,
{
label: new OO.ui.HtmlSnippet( mw.msg( 'rt-tooltipsForComments' ) ),
align: 'inline',
classes: [ 'rt-tooltipsForCommentsField' ]
}
);
new TooltippedElement(
this.tooltipsForCommentsField.$element.find(
'.' + ( COMMENTED_TEXT_CLASS || 'rt-commentedText' )
)
);

this.fieldset = new OO.ui.FieldsetLayout();
this.fieldset.addItems( [
this.enableField,
this.activationMethodField,
this.delayField,
this.tooltipsForCommentsField
] );

this.panelSettings = new OO.ui.PanelLayout( {
padded: true,
expanded: false
} );
this.panelSettings.$element.append( this.fieldset.$element );

this.panelDisabled = new OO.ui.PanelLayout( {
padded: true,
expanded: false
} );
this.panelDisabled.$element.append(
$( '<table>' )
.addClass( 'rt-disabledHelp' )
.append(
$( '<tr>' ).append(
$( '<td>' ).append(
$( '<img>' ).attr( 'src', 'https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/MediaWiki_footer_link_ltr.svg' )
),
$( '<td>' )
.addClass( 'rt-disabledNote' )
.text( mw.msg( 'rt-disabledNote' ) )
)
)
);

this.stackLayout = new OO.ui.StackLayout( {
items: [ this.panelSettings, this.panelDisabled ]
} );

this.$body.append( this.stackLayout.$element );
};

SettingsDialog.prototype.getSetupProcess = function ( data ) {
return SettingsDialog.parent.prototype.getSetupProcess.call( this, data )
.next( function () {
this.stackLayout.setItem( this.panelSettings );
this.actions.setMode( 'main' );
}, this );
};

SettingsDialog.prototype.getActionProcess = function ( action ) {
var dialog = this;

if ( action === 'save' ) {
return new OO.ui.Process( function () {
var newDelay = Number( dialog.delayInput.getValue() );

enabled = dialog.enableCheckbox.isSelected();
if ( newDelay >= 0 && newDelay <= 5000 ) {
delay = newDelay;
}
activatedByClick = dialog.clickOption.isSelected();
tooltipsForComments = dialog.tooltipsForCommentsCheckbox.isSelected();

setSettingsCookie();

if ( enabled ) {
dialog.close();
disableRt();
rt( $content );
} else {
dialog.actions.setMode( 'disabled' );
dialog.stackLayout.setItem( dialog.panelDisabled );
disableRt();
addEnableLink();
}
} );
} else if ( action === 'deactivated' ) {
dialog.close();
}
return SettingsDialog.parent.prototype.getActionProcess.call( this, action );
};

SettingsDialog.prototype.getBodyHeight = function () {
return this.stackLayout.getCurrentItem().$element.outerHeight( true );
};

tooltip.upToTopParent( function adjustRightAndHide() {
if ( this.isPresent ) {
if ( this.$element[ 0 ].style.right ) {
this.$element.css(
'right',
'+=' + ( window.innerWidth - $window.width() )
);
}
this.te.hideRef( true );
}
} );

if ( !windowManager ) {
windowManager = new OO.ui.WindowManager();
$body.append( windowManager.$element );
}

settingsDialog = new SettingsDialog();
windowManager.addWindows( [ settingsDialog ] );
settingsWindow = windowManager.openWindow( settingsDialog );
settingsWindow.opened.then( function () {
settingsDialogOpening = false;
} );
settingsWindow.closed.then( function () {
windowManager.clearWindows();
} );
}

var tooltip = this;

// This variable can change: one tooltip can be called from a harvard-style reference link
// that is put into different tooltips
this.te = te;

switch ( this.te.type ) {
case 'supRef':
this.id = 'rt-' + this.te.$originalElement.attr( 'id' );
this.$content = this.te.$ref
.contents()
.filter( function ( i ) {
var $this = $( this );
return (
this.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE ||
!(
// `a[href^="#cite_ref-"]` is for Wiktionary and possibly other
// sites (not English Wikipedia) where the output of the Cite
// extension is slightly different
$this.is( '.mw-cite-backlink, a[href^="#cite_ref-"]' ) ||
(
i === 0 &&
// Template:Cnote, Template:Note
( $this.is( 'b' ) ||
// Template:Note_label
$this.is( 'a' ) &&
$this.attr( 'href' ).indexOf( '#ref' ) === 0
)
)
)
);
} )
.clone( true );
break;
case 'harvardRef':
this.id = 'rt-' + this.te.$originalElement.closest( 'li' ).attr( 'id' );
this.$content = this.te.$ref
.clone( true )
.removeAttr( 'id' );
break;
case 'commentedText':
this.id = 'rt-' + String( Math.random() ).slice( 2 );
this.$content = $( document.createTextNode( this.te.comment ) );
break;
}
if ( !this.$content.length ) {
return;
}

this.isInsideWindow = Boolean( this.te.$element.closest( '.oo-ui-window' ).length );

this.$element = $( '<div>' )
.addClass( 'rt-tooltip' )
.attr( 'id', this.id )
.attr( 'role', 'tooltip' )
.data( 'tooltip', this );

var $hoverArea = $( '<div>' )
.addClass( 'rt-hoverArea' )
.appendTo( this.$element );

var $scroll = $( '<div>' )
.addClass( 'rt-scroll' )
.appendTo( $hoverArea );

this.$content = this.$content
.wrapAll( '<div>' )
.parent()
.addClass( 'rt-content' )
.addClass( 'mw-parser-output' )
.appendTo( $scroll );

if ( !activatedByClick ) {
this.$element
.on( 'mouseenter linkPopupHover', function ( e ) {
if ( !tooltip.disappearing || e.type === 'linkPopupHover' ) {
tooltip.upToTopParent( function () {
this.show();
} );
}
} )
.on( 'mouseleave', function ( e ) {
// https://stackoverflow.com/q/47649442 workaround. Relying on relatedTarget
// alone has pitfalls: when alt-tabbing, relatedTarget is empty too
if (
CLIENT_NAME !== 'chrome' ||
(
!e.originalEvent ||
e.originalEvent.relatedTarget !== null ||
!tooltip.clickedTime ||
$.now() - tooltip.clickedTime > 50
)
) {
tooltip.upToTopParent( function () {
this.te.hideRef();
} );
}
} )
.click( function () {
tooltip.clickedTime = $.now();
} );
}

if ( !this.isInsideWindow ) {
$( '<a>' )
.addClass( 'rt-settingsLink' )
.attr( 'role', 'button' )
.attr( 'href', '#' )
.attr( 'title', mw.msg( 'rt-settings' ) )
.click( function ( e ) {
e.preventDefault();
if ( settingsDialogOpening ) {
return;
}
settingsDialogOpening = true;

if ( mw.loader.getState( 'oojs-ui' ) !== 'ready' ) {
if ( cursorWaitCss ) {
cursorWaitCss.disabled = false;
} else {
cursorWaitCss = mw.util.addCSS( 'body { cursor: wait; }' );
}
}
mw.loader.using( [ 'oojs', 'oojs-ui' ], openSettingsDialog );
} )
.prependTo( this.$content );
}

// Tooltip tail element is inside tooltip content element in order for the tooltip
// not to disappear when the mouse is above the tail
this.$tail = $( '<div>' )
.addClass( 'rt-tail' )
.prependTo( this.$element );

this.disappearing = false;

this.show = function () {
this.disappearing = false;
clearTimeout( this.te.hideTimer );
clearTimeout( this.te.removeTimer );

this.$element
.removeClass( CLASSES.FADE_OUT_DOWN )
.removeClass( CLASSES.FADE_OUT_UP );

if ( !this.isPresent ) {
$overlay.append( this.$element );
}

this.isPresent = true;
};

this.hide = function () {
var tooltip = this;

tooltip.disappearing = true;

if ( tooltip.$element.hasClass( 'rt-tooltip-above' ) ) {
tooltip.$element
.removeClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_DOWN )
.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_OUT_UP );
} else {
tooltip.$element
.removeClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_UP )
.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_OUT_DOWN );
}

tooltip.te.removeTimer = setTimeout( function () {
if ( tooltip.isPresent ) {
tooltip.$element.detach();

tooltip.$tail.css( 'left', '' );

if ( activatedByClick ) {
$body.off( 'click.rt touchstart.rt', tooltip.te.onBodyClick );
}
$window.off( 'resize.rt', tooltip.te.onWindowResize );

tooltip.isPresent = false;
}
}, 200 );
};

this.calculatePosition = function ( ePageX, ePageY ) {
var teElement, teOffsets, teOffset, targetTailOffsetX, tailLeft;

this.$tail.css( 'left', '' );

teElement = this.te.$element.get( 0 );
if ( ePageX !== undefined ) {
targetTailOffsetX = ePageX;
teOffsets = ( teElement.getClientRects && teElement.getClientRects() ) ||
teElement.getBoundingClientRect();
if ( teOffsets.length > 1 ) {
for ( var i = teOffsets.length - 1; i >= 0; i-- ) {
if (
ePageY >= Math.round( $window.scrollTop() + teOffsets[ i ].top ) &&
ePageY <= Math.round(
$window.scrollTop() + teOffsets[i].top + teOffsets[ i ].height
)
) {
teOffset = teOffsets[ i ];
}
}
}
}

if ( !teOffset ) {
teOffset = ( teElement.getClientRects && teElement.getClientRects()[ 0 ] ) ||
teElement.getBoundingClientRect();
}
teOffset = {
top: $window.scrollTop() + teOffset.top,
left: $window.scrollLeft() + teOffset.left,
width: teOffset.width,
height: teOffset.height
};
if ( !targetTailOffsetX ) {
targetTailOffsetX = teOffset.left + ( teOffset.width / 2 );
}

// Value of `left` in `.rt-tooltip-above .rt-tail`
var defaultTailLeft = 19;

// Value of `width` in `.rt-tail`
var tailSideWidth = 13;

// We tilt the square 45 degrees, so we need square root to calculate the distance.
var tailWidth = tailSideWidth * Math.SQRT2;
var tailHeight = tailWidth / 2;
var tailCenterDelta = tailSideWidth + 1 - ( tailWidth / 2 );

var tooltip = this;
var getTop = function ( isBelow ) {
var delta = isBelow ?
teOffset.height + tailHeight :
-tooltip.$element.outerHeight() - tailHeight + 1;
return teOffset.top + delta;
};

this.$element.css( {
top: getTop(),
left: targetTailOffsetX - defaultTailLeft - tailCenterDelta,
right: ''
} );

// Is it squished against the right side of the page?
if ( this.$element.offset().left + this.$element.outerWidth() > $window.width() - 1 ) {
this.$element.css( {
left: '',
right: 0
} );
tailLeft = targetTailOffsetX - this.$element.offset().left - tailCenterDelta;
}

// Is a part of it above the top of the screen?
if ( teOffset.top < this.$element.outerHeight() + $window.scrollTop() + tailHeight ) {
this.$element
.removeClass( 'rt-tooltip-above' )
.addClass( 'rt-tooltip-below' )
.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_UP )
.css( {
top: getTop( true )
} );
if ( tailLeft ) {
this.$tail.css( 'left', ( tailLeft + tailSideWidth ) + 'px' );
}
} else {
this.$element
.removeClass( 'rt-tooltip-below' )
.addClass( 'rt-tooltip-above' )
.addClass( CLASSES.FADE_IN_DOWN )
// A fix for cases when a tooltip shown once is then wrongly positioned when it
// is shown again after a window resize.
.css( {
top: getTop()
} );
if ( tailLeft ) {
this.$tail.css( 'left', tailLeft + 'px' );
}
}
};

// Run some function for all the tooltips up to the top one in a tree. Its context will be
// the tooltip, while its parameters may be passed to Tooltip.upToTopParent as an array
// in the second parameter. If the third parameter passed to ToolTip.upToTopParent is true,
// the execution stops when the function in question returns true for the first time,
// and ToolTip.upToTopParent returns true as well.
this.upToTopParent = function ( func, parameters, stopAtTrue ) {
var returnValue,
currentTooltip = this;

do {
returnValue = func.apply( currentTooltip, parameters );
if ( stopAtTrue && returnValue ) {
break;
}
} while ( ( currentTooltip = currentTooltip.parent ) );

if ( stopAtTrue ) {
return returnValue;
}
};
}

if ( !enabled ) {
addEnableLink();
return;
}

teSelector = REF_LINK_SELECTOR;
if ( tooltipsForComments ) {
teSelector += ', ' + COMMENTED_TEXT_SELECTOR;
}
$content.find( teSelector ).each( function () {
new TooltippedElement( $( this ) );
} );
}

settingsString = mw.cookie.get( 'RTsettings', '' );
if ( settingsString ) {
settings = settingsString.split( '|' );
enabled = Boolean( Number( settings[ 0 ] ) );
delay = Number( settings[ 1 ] );
activatedByClick = Boolean( Number( settings[ 2 ] ) );
// The forth value was added later, so we provide for a default value. See comments below
// for why we use "IS_TOUCHSCREEN && IS_MOBILE".
tooltipsForComments = settings[ 3 ] === undefined ?
IS_TOUCHSCREEN && IS_MOBILE :
Boolean( Number( settings[ 3 ] ) );
} else {
enabled = true;
delay = 200;
// Since the mobile browser check is error-prone, adding IS_MOBILE condition here would probably
// leave cases where a user interacting with the browser using touches doesn't know how to call
// a tooltip in order to switch to activation by click. Some touch-supporting laptop users
// interacting by touch (though probably not the most popular use case) would not be happy too.
activatedByClick = IS_TOUCHSCREEN;
// Arguably we shouldn't convert native tooltips into gadget tooltips for devices that have
// mouse support, even if they have touchscreens (there are laptops with touchscreens).
// IS_TOUCHSCREEN check here is for reliability, since the mobile check is prone to false
// positives.
tooltipsForComments = IS_TOUCHSCREEN && IS_MOBILE;
}

mw.hook( 'wikipage.content' ).add( rt );

}() );

Disinformation/Transgender/Sports

2025-10-25T11:12:58Z

Admin: /* References */

File:CCES- Transgender Women Atheletes and Elite Sport- A Scientific Review (2023).pdf

2025-10-25T11:01:47Z

Admin:

This report used to be available [https://cces.ca/transgender-women-athletes-and-elite-sport-scientific-review here], but has since been taken down.

Disinformation/Transgender/Sports

2025-10-25T10:59:46Z

Admin: /* References */

The discussion regarding whether we should include trans folks in our sports (and how to categorise them) is long-running and divisive.

Before we can get into the discussion proper, though, we'll need to talk about the history of sex-based segregation in sports.

== Historical Segregation ==
It is a well-known fact that women's rights are a relatively recent concept, and that women have been (and continue to be) discriminated against for much of humanity's history. The first recognisable form of feminism (first-wave feminism) formally began in 1848<ref>[https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism Pacific University: Four Waves of Feminism]</ref>, and the beginnings of this movement focused on a defined set of grievances, regarding suffrage, government representation, marriage and divorce laws, and employment<ref>[https://www.masterclass.com/articles/first-wave-feminism MasterClass: First-Wave Feminism: Timeline and Criticisms]</ref>.

As late as the 1970s, there were few roles considered "gender appropriate" for women and girls<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-t3EEAAAQBAJ Google Books: Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not Equal by Adrienne N. Milner and Jomills Henry Braddock II]</ref>. Society expected them to focus on traditional (and low-wage if they were working) roles, such as cooking, cleaning, home-making and cosmetology. When organised sports appeared in the US in the 19th century, we discouraged or outright banned women and girls from participating, resulting in sports largely being characterised as male-dominated and even hypermasculine, something that persists today.

[[wikipedia:Title_IX|Title IX]], which prohibits sex-based discrimination in all government-funded forms of education, was heavily contested by opponents who wished to restrict the rights of women in athletics, lobbying to exclude it<ref name=":0" />. For example, the NCAA's executive director stated that Title IX was the "possible doom of intercollegiate sports", and Senator John Tower (TX) proposed amendments to exclude women from revenue-generating sports.

The idea of segregating sports by sex today relies on some assumption that women on average perform less well than men<ref name=":1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24757601 JSTOR: Constructing Gender Incommensurability in Competitive Sport: Sex/Gender Testing and the New Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism by Marion Müller]</ref>. They explain that early big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were above expectations, by establishing "gender verifications" that accused those women of fraud. This happened even though there was (and is) no scientific proof such segregation makes logical sense on any material basis.

The thought process used to justify this segregation was, in fact, a tool used by segregationists to try to prove that material differences existed<ref name=":1" />. It seems as if this form of segregation exists to prevent us from making direct comparisons between the performance of the sexes in sports and athletics, which would prove beyond a doubt that there's no material difference. In fact, the implementation of sex-based segregation in fencing, rifle shooting and skeet shooting only began after a woman won against male competitors, implying that it only exists to reinforce masculine stereotypes. In some situations, opponents would even forfeit once they realised they were competing against a girl<ref>[https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijlse/vol8/iss1/3/ Indiana University Maurer School of Law: There’s Nothing Worse than Losing to a Girl: An Analysis of Sex Segregation in American Youth Sports]</ref>.

When decades of attempts to prove that women performed less well than men at sports failed, sports organisations tried to find new reasons to continue to segregate sports by sex<ref name=":1" />. We can see examples of this in the media as recently as 2023, when [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/human-rights-court-rules-in-favor-of-olympic-champion-semenya-over-testosterone-rules Olympic medallist Caster Semenya won a court case that declared it was discriminatory for World Athletics to exclude her based on her natural testosterone levels].

While racism isn't the focus of this article, it is also worth noting that the regulations on testosterone levels are likely racist<ref>[https://www.allure.com/story/caster-semenya-ruling-op-ed Allure: White Fragility & the Ruling Against Caster Semenya]</ref>. This is partly because black women often have their femininity denied by racists, and many believe the regulations only used white women's testosterone levels as a guideline.

== Trans Segregation ==
Sports organisations tend to see gender ambiguity (which may be challenging to categorise) as a threat<ref name=":1" />. They further attempt to justify their segregation by measuring "hyperandrogenism", or heightened levels of testosterone, excluding women who produce more of it and don't go through medical treatments to lower it. However, this only proves Müller's point — that this doesn't represent a meaningful difference in performance. Instead, it is simply an extension of institutions' wish to continue to segregate sports by sex, apparently in an appeal to traditional values.

This train of thought also affects trans folks, sometimes in contradictory ways. Those who believe in biological essentialism may state that one's biology defines much of their sporting ability, stating that trans-feminine folks have an innate physical advantage due to being born male. As the big sports organisations use testosterone as a measure of "maleness," it is unsurprising those who support excluding trans-feminine folks from organised sports use the heightened testosterone levels of those assigned male at birth as a justification. They also usually ignore non-binary and trans-masculine folks, groups that tend to contradict many of their other arguments.

# '''The assumption that testosterone has a measurable effect on the performance of an athlete has little scientific basis, according to many studies:'''
#* Testosterone does not impact lean mass or hand grip strength in women<ref>[https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89232-1 Nature: Total testosterone is not associated with lean mass or handgrip strength in pre-menopausal females]</ref>.
#* There's no evidence that including trans-feminine folks in sport would be unfair<ref name=":2">[https://cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/2024-01/cces-transgender-women-athletes-and-elite-sport-scientific-review-en.pdf https://www.cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/pdf/transgenderwomenathletesandelitesport-ascientificreview-e-final.pdf]</ref>.
#* Regulations on testosterone levels were justified using significantly flawed data, and that the data, when corrected, contradicts the conclusion that the IAAF put forward. The IAAF also neglected to have their research peer-reviewed, and it contained a significant number of basic errors, such as duplicated athletes<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40318-019-00143-w</ref>.
#* The study used by the IAAF to justify its policies can only assert that raised testosterone levels had a positive impact on athletic ability for a couple of events. The data for 16 other events showed no impact, and for several other events, raised testosterone levels negatively impacted the athletes' abilities.
#* Coming up with a definition of "normal" testosterone levels is hard, and that one's testosterone levels naturally fluctuate constantly. Experts from different societies, countries, and even laboratories often don't agree on what a "normal" level of testosterone is<ref name=":3">https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587</ref>.
# '''While not all trans-feminine folks will, many of them do decide to undergo [[wikipedia:Transgender_hormone_therapy|hormone replacement therapy]], or HRT.''' HRT is a form of hormone therapy, which involves the administering of hormonal medications to help align trans folks' secondary sexual characteristics with their gender. This medication usually takes two forms, typically administered together:
#* Hormone blockers, which lower the production of a given hormone or inhibit the receptors for that hormone.
#* Medication providing supplemental hormones, matching the trans folk's gender and keeping their hormonal balance healthy. For pre-surgery trans-feminine folks, this medication will typically lower their testosterone levels and raise their oestrogen levels. This would imply that any potentially measurable benefits granted by their prior testosterone levels would become nullified through their medical treatment. Here's what the science has to say:
#* Feminising HRT lowers strength, hemoglobin levels, muscle area and lean body mass in trans-feminine folks<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8311086/</ref>. It also results in bone density compromise, and after 4 years, their muscle and fat mass, and performance is no different to that of cisgender women<ref name=":4">https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/109/2/e455/7223439</ref>. Current research suggests that trans women aren't physically different to cis women in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5">https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.05.25326994v1</ref>.
#* Masculinising HRT in non-athletic trans-masculine folks results in a performance level no different to cisgender men after 1 to 3 years.<ref name=":4" /> Current research suggests that trans men aren't physically different to cis men in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5" />. While studies opine that trans-feminine folks may generally retain some minor long-term advantages over cisgender women, competitive sports organisations already accept and account for similar deviations in abilities and advantages in cisgender women<ref name=":2" />.
# '''While advocates for banning trans folks from sports often use children as a talking point, claims that banning trans children from sports is an issue of protecting other children seem nebulous at best:'''
#* Lawmakers have largely been unable to cite local examples of trans girls competing in sports. Where examples are available, there appears to be no evidence that including trans children results in competitive unfairness<ref>https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7</ref>.
#* The "protect the children" rhetoric has been used to demonise members of the LGBT+ community since the early 1900s, and potentially even earlier than that<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/24/groomer-lgbtq-germany-children/</ref>.
# '''Advocates for banning trans folks from sports often include non-physical sports, coming up with the same conclusions. This suggests that this is more about transphobia and misogyny than any idea of fairness:'''
#* A trans-feminine snooker player, faced harassment after her tournament win. This included calls from former world number one Maria Catalano, who called for trans players to be banned from women's tournaments<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/62821241</ref>.
#* The International Chess Federation (FIDE) effectively declared that women are less intelligent than men. It effectively banned trans women from competing in women's competitions for up to two years, and decided to remove some titles won by both trans men and women in their respective categories<ref>https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194593562/chess-transgender-fide-pushback</ref>.
#* Professional pool player Lynne Pinches turned down her first ever professional contract, when the World Eightball Pool Federation reversed its ban on trans players<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/68183503</ref>.
#* Several cis Dutch women's darts veterans quit when they realised their team included a trans woman, complaining about fairness in the sport<ref>https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240325-dutch-women-s-darts-veterans-quit-over-transgender-team-mate</ref>.
#* [https://www.shewon.org/ SheWon.org] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/https://www.shewon.org/ Wayback Machine]) frames trans-feminine athletes as "males in women's sporting events" that stole cis women's achievements by beating them, lists various non-physical sports, including billiards, darts, esports, poker, pool, and snooker. It also lists numerous "non-athletic competitions", including Jeopardy game show wins, beauty competitions, scholarships, democratic elections, Forbes lists, and hot-dog-eating competitions. The site also contains a list of trans-feminine athletes, including many of their deadnames. Additionally, as is typical for those who would exclude trans folks from sports, the site pretends that trans-masculine folks don't exist. Websites like this exist to justify hate, rather than discuss current issues on their merits. This is just one example of a huge number of outlets for similar hate campaigns.

== Direct Impact ==
It goes without saying that this page wouldn't exist, had there been no reason to discuss this disinformation. Unfortunately, the disinformation discussed above has had many real-world consequences.

The following points are true as of April 2024:

* In 2023, [https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/council-meeting-march-2023-russia-belarus-female-eligibility World Athletics introduced new regulations] regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes and female athletes with "differences of sex development". These regulations require female athletes with "differences of sexual development" to medicate for at least two years, with the aim of reducing their testosterone levels. This requirement applies to all events, including those that were previously unrestricted. They also ban all trans-feminine athletes who had a male puberty from participating in female World Rankings competitions. Due to the current state of trans healthcare legislation, this impacts most trans-feminine individuals, and this problem is likely to get worse due to the current political climate. In what we can only describe as cruel irony, these regulations came into effect on the 31st of March 2023, Transgender Day of Visibility. These new regulations also affected many cis women of colour<ref name=":6">https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/03/24/trans-women-banned-from-track-and-field-intersex-athletes-restricted/</ref>, effectively banning them from competing due to their race<ref name=":3" />.
* Government officials attempted to pass at least 48 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75144</ref> attempting to ban trans youth from participating in school sports or in teams that correspond with their gender in 2024. They also attempted to pass 33 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75143</ref> restricting access to school facilities for trans youth. Four related bills have passed so far this year:
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/AL/SB129 AL SB129]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/ID/H0455 ID H0455]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/UT/HB0172 UT HB0172]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/WI/AB377 WI AB377]
* Excluding women based on their hormone levels does little to contribute to equal opportunities for them. For example, Maximila Imali, a top Kenyan runner disqualified due to her high testosterone levels, is struggling to support her partner and family, feed her son and pay the rent<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/world/africa/olympic-intersex-maximila-imali.html</ref>. Banning female athletes from their careers serves to make them poorer, and may prevent them from meeting an acceptable quality of life. We're unsure what mental gymnastics one needs to characterise this as "protecting women", but that's how World Athletics puts it: "This is why we introduced the eligibility regulation and why it must be defended: to ensure fair competition for all women."<ref>https://worldathletics.org/news/press-release/questions-answers-iaaf-female-eligibility-reg</ref> As mentioned above, this also seems to have a disproportionate effect on women of colour<ref name=":6" />.

== Conclusion ==
While further research is necessary to fully understand the effects of transitioning on one's body, the above context shows that there's no real reason to exclude trans folks from sports. Indeed, the scientific evidence seems to contradict every argument made supporting banning trans folks, and it also seems that many advocates for that aren't arguing based on any reasonable or factual basis.

While it is impossible for any article to be absolutely inclusive of all possible information, we believe that the context we've provided above shows that there's no reasonable basis for excluding trans folks from sport. If you come across further studies or information that you feel should be included here, please contact us or [[Meta:Contributing|learn how to contribute]].

== References ==
<references />

Disinformation/Transgender/Sports

2025-10-25T10:54:07Z

Admin: /* References */

The discussion regarding whether we should include trans folks in our sports (and how to categorise them) is long-running and divisive.

Before we can get into the discussion proper, though, we'll need to talk about the history of sex-based segregation in sports.

== Historical Segregation ==
It is a well-known fact that women's rights are a relatively recent concept, and that women have been (and continue to be) discriminated against for much of humanity's history. The first recognisable form of feminism (first-wave feminism) formally began in 1848<ref>[https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism Pacific University: Four Waves of Feminism]</ref>, and the beginnings of this movement focused on a defined set of grievances, regarding suffrage, government representation, marriage and divorce laws, and employment<ref>[https://www.masterclass.com/articles/first-wave-feminism MasterClass: First-Wave Feminism: Timeline and Criticisms]</ref>.

As late as the 1970s, there were few roles considered "gender appropriate" for women and girls<ref name=":0">[https://books.google.com/books?id=-t3EEAAAQBAJ Google Books: Sex Segregation in Sports: Why Separate Is Not Equal by Adrienne N. Milner and Jomills Henry Braddock II]</ref>. Society expected them to focus on traditional (and low-wage if they were working) roles, such as cooking, cleaning, home-making and cosmetology. When organised sports appeared in the US in the 19th century, we discouraged or outright banned women and girls from participating, resulting in sports largely being characterised as male-dominated and even hypermasculine, something that persists today.

[[wikipedia:Title_IX|Title IX]], which prohibits sex-based discrimination in all government-funded forms of education, was heavily contested by opponents who wished to restrict the rights of women in athletics, lobbying to exclude it<ref name=":0" />. For example, the NCAA's executive director stated that Title IX was the "possible doom of intercollegiate sports", and Senator John Tower (TX) proposed amendments to exclude women from revenue-generating sports.

The idea of segregating sports by sex today relies on some assumption that women on average perform less well than men<ref name=":1">[https://www.jstor.org/stable/24757601 JSTOR: Constructing Gender Incommensurability in Competitive Sport: Sex/Gender Testing and the New Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism by Marion Müller]</ref>. They explain that early big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were above expectations, by establishing "gender verifications" that accused those women of fraud. This happened even though there was (and is) no scientific proof such segregation makes logical sense on any material basis.

The thought process used to justify this segregation was, in fact, a tool used by segregationists to try to prove that material differences existed<ref name=":1" />. It seems as if this form of segregation exists to prevent us from making direct comparisons between the performance of the sexes in sports and athletics, which would prove beyond a doubt that there's no material difference. In fact, the implementation of sex-based segregation in fencing, rifle shooting and skeet shooting only began after a woman won against male competitors, implying that it only exists to reinforce masculine stereotypes. In some situations, opponents would even forfeit once they realised they were competing against a girl<ref>[https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijlse/vol8/iss1/3/ Indiana University Maurer School of Law: There’s Nothing Worse than Losing to a Girl: An Analysis of Sex Segregation in American Youth Sports]</ref>.

When decades of attempts to prove that women performed less well than men at sports failed, sports organisations tried to find new reasons to continue to segregate sports by sex<ref name=":1" />. We can see examples of this in the media as recently as 2023, when [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/human-rights-court-rules-in-favor-of-olympic-champion-semenya-over-testosterone-rules Olympic medallist Caster Semenya won a court case that declared it was discriminatory for World Athletics to exclude her based on her natural testosterone levels].

While racism isn't the focus of this article, it is also worth noting that the regulations on testosterone levels are likely racist<ref>https://www.allure.com/story/caster-semenya-ruling-op-ed</ref>. This is partly because black women often have their femininity denied by racists, and many believe the regulations only used white women's testosterone levels as a guideline.

== Trans Segregation ==
Sports organisations tend to see gender ambiguity (which may be challenging to categorise) as a threat<ref name=":1" />. They further attempt to justify their segregation by measuring "hyperandrogenism", or heightened levels of testosterone, excluding women who produce more of it and don't go through medical treatments to lower it. However, this only proves Müller's point — that this doesn't represent a meaningful difference in performance. Instead, it is simply an extension of institutions' wish to continue to segregate sports by sex, apparently in an appeal to traditional values.

This train of thought also affects trans folks, sometimes in contradictory ways. Those who believe in biological essentialism may state that one's biology defines much of their sporting ability, stating that trans-feminine folks have an innate physical advantage due to being born male. As the big sports organisations use testosterone as a measure of "maleness," it is unsurprising those who support excluding trans-feminine folks from organised sports use the heightened testosterone levels of those assigned male at birth as a justification. They also usually ignore non-binary and trans-masculine folks, groups that tend to contradict many of their other arguments.

# '''The assumption that testosterone has a measurable effect on the performance of an athlete has little scientific basis, according to many studies:'''
#* Testosterone does not impact lean mass or hand grip strength in women<ref>https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89232-1</ref>.
#* There's no evidence that including trans-feminine folks in sport would be unfair<ref name=":2">[https://cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/2024-01/cces-transgender-women-athletes-and-elite-sport-scientific-review-en.pdf https://www.cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/pdf/transgenderwomenathletesandelitesport-ascientificreview-e-final.pdf]</ref>.
#* Regulations on testosterone levels were justified using significantly flawed data, and that the data, when corrected, contradicts the conclusion that the IAAF put forward. The IAAF also neglected to have their research peer-reviewed, and it contained a significant number of basic errors, such as duplicated athletes<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40318-019-00143-w</ref>.
#* The study used by the IAAF to justify its policies can only assert that raised testosterone levels had a positive impact on athletic ability for a couple of events. The data for 16 other events showed no impact, and for several other events, raised testosterone levels negatively impacted the athletes' abilities.
#* Coming up with a definition of "normal" testosterone levels is hard, and that one's testosterone levels naturally fluctuate constantly. Experts from different societies, countries, and even laboratories often don't agree on what a "normal" level of testosterone is<ref name=":3">https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587</ref>.
# '''While not all trans-feminine folks will, many of them do decide to undergo [[wikipedia:Transgender_hormone_therapy|hormone replacement therapy]], or HRT.''' HRT is a form of hormone therapy, which involves the administering of hormonal medications to help align trans folks' secondary sexual characteristics with their gender. This medication usually takes two forms, typically administered together:
#* Hormone blockers, which lower the production of a given hormone or inhibit the receptors for that hormone.
#* Medication providing supplemental hormones, matching the trans folk's gender and keeping their hormonal balance healthy. For pre-surgery trans-feminine folks, this medication will typically lower their testosterone levels and raise their oestrogen levels. This would imply that any potentially measurable benefits granted by their prior testosterone levels would become nullified through their medical treatment. Here's what the science has to say:
#* Feminising HRT lowers strength, hemoglobin levels, muscle area and lean body mass in trans-feminine folks<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8311086/</ref>. It also results in bone density compromise, and after 4 years, their muscle and fat mass, and performance is no different to that of cisgender women<ref name=":4">https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/109/2/e455/7223439</ref>. Current research suggests that trans women aren't physically different to cis women in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5">https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.05.25326994v1</ref>.
#* Masculinising HRT in non-athletic trans-masculine folks results in a performance level no different to cisgender men after 1 to 3 years.<ref name=":4" /> Current research suggests that trans men aren't physically different to cis men in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5" />. While studies opine that trans-feminine folks may generally retain some minor long-term advantages over cisgender women, competitive sports organisations already accept and account for similar deviations in abilities and advantages in cisgender women<ref name=":2" />.
# '''While advocates for banning trans folks from sports often use children as a talking point, claims that banning trans children from sports is an issue of protecting other children seem nebulous at best:'''
#* Lawmakers have largely been unable to cite local examples of trans girls competing in sports. Where examples are available, there appears to be no evidence that including trans children results in competitive unfairness<ref>https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7</ref>.
#* The "protect the children" rhetoric has been used to demonise members of the LGBT+ community since the early 1900s, and potentially even earlier than that<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/24/groomer-lgbtq-germany-children/</ref>.
# '''Advocates for banning trans folks from sports often include non-physical sports, coming up with the same conclusions. This suggests that this is more about transphobia and misogyny than any idea of fairness:'''
#* A trans-feminine snooker player, faced harassment after her tournament win. This included calls from former world number one Maria Catalano, who called for trans players to be banned from women's tournaments<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/62821241</ref>.
#* The International Chess Federation (FIDE) effectively declared that women are less intelligent than men. It effectively banned trans women from competing in women's competitions for up to two years, and decided to remove some titles won by both trans men and women in their respective categories<ref>https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194593562/chess-transgender-fide-pushback</ref>.
#* Professional pool player Lynne Pinches turned down her first ever professional contract, when the World Eightball Pool Federation reversed its ban on trans players<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/68183503</ref>.
#* Several cis Dutch women's darts veterans quit when they realised their team included a trans woman, complaining about fairness in the sport<ref>https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240325-dutch-women-s-darts-veterans-quit-over-transgender-team-mate</ref>.
#* [https://www.shewon.org/ SheWon.org] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/https://www.shewon.org/ Wayback Machine]) frames trans-feminine athletes as "males in women's sporting events" that stole cis women's achievements by beating them, lists various non-physical sports, including billiards, darts, esports, poker, pool, and snooker. It also lists numerous "non-athletic competitions", including Jeopardy game show wins, beauty competitions, scholarships, democratic elections, Forbes lists, and hot-dog-eating competitions. The site also contains a list of trans-feminine athletes, including many of their deadnames. Additionally, as is typical for those who would exclude trans folks from sports, the site pretends that trans-masculine folks don't exist. Websites like this exist to justify hate, rather than discuss current issues on their merits. This is just one example of a huge number of outlets for similar hate campaigns.

== Direct Impact ==
It goes without saying that this page wouldn't exist, had there been no reason to discuss this disinformation. Unfortunately, the disinformation discussed above has had many real-world consequences.

The following points are true as of April 2024:

* In 2023, [https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/council-meeting-march-2023-russia-belarus-female-eligibility World Athletics introduced new regulations] regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes and female athletes with "differences of sex development". These regulations require female athletes with "differences of sexual development" to medicate for at least two years, with the aim of reducing their testosterone levels. This requirement applies to all events, including those that were previously unrestricted. They also ban all trans-feminine athletes who had a male puberty from participating in female World Rankings competitions. Due to the current state of trans healthcare legislation, this impacts most trans-feminine individuals, and this problem is likely to get worse due to the current political climate. In what we can only describe as cruel irony, these regulations came into effect on the 31st of March 2023, Transgender Day of Visibility. These new regulations also affected many cis women of colour<ref name=":6">https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/03/24/trans-women-banned-from-track-and-field-intersex-athletes-restricted/</ref>, effectively banning them from competing due to their race<ref name=":3" />.
* Government officials attempted to pass at least 48 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75144</ref> attempting to ban trans youth from participating in school sports or in teams that correspond with their gender in 2024. They also attempted to pass 33 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75143</ref> restricting access to school facilities for trans youth. Four related bills have passed so far this year:
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/AL/SB129 AL SB129]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/ID/H0455 ID H0455]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/UT/HB0172 UT HB0172]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/WI/AB377 WI AB377]
* Excluding women based on their hormone levels does little to contribute to equal opportunities for them. For example, Maximila Imali, a top Kenyan runner disqualified due to her high testosterone levels, is struggling to support her partner and family, feed her son and pay the rent<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/world/africa/olympic-intersex-maximila-imali.html</ref>. Banning female athletes from their careers serves to make them poorer, and may prevent them from meeting an acceptable quality of life. We're unsure what mental gymnastics one needs to characterise this as "protecting women", but that's how World Athletics puts it: "This is why we introduced the eligibility regulation and why it must be defended: to ensure fair competition for all women."<ref>https://worldathletics.org/news/press-release/questions-answers-iaaf-female-eligibility-reg</ref> As mentioned above, this also seems to have a disproportionate effect on women of colour<ref name=":6" />.

== Conclusion ==
While further research is necessary to fully understand the effects of transitioning on one's body, the above context shows that there's no real reason to exclude trans folks from sports. Indeed, the scientific evidence seems to contradict every argument made supporting banning trans folks, and it also seems that many advocates for that aren't arguing based on any reasonable or factual basis.

While it is impossible for any article to be absolutely inclusive of all possible information, we believe that the context we've provided above shows that there's no reasonable basis for excluding trans folks from sport. If you come across further studies or information that you feel should be included here, please contact us or [[Meta:Contributing|learn how to contribute]].

== References ==
<references />

Disinformation/Transgender/Sports

2025-10-25T10:49:24Z

Admin: Bring over page

The discussion regarding whether we should include trans folks in our sports (and how to categorise them) is long-running and divisive.

Before we can get into the discussion proper, though, we'll need to talk about the history of sex-based segregation in sports.

== Historical Segregation ==
It is a well-known fact that women's rights are a relatively recent concept, and that women have been (and continue to be) discriminated against for much of humanity's history. The first recognisable form of feminism (first-wave feminism) formally began in 1848<ref>https://www.pacificu.edu/magazine/four-waves-feminism</ref>, and the beginnings of this movement focused on a defined set of grievances, regarding suffrage, government representation, marriage and divorce laws, and employment<ref>https://www.masterclass.com/articles/first-wave-feminism</ref>.

As late as the 1970s, there were few roles considered "gender appropriate" for women and girls<ref name=":0">https://books.google.com/books?id=-t3EEAAAQBAJ</ref>. Society expected them to focus on traditional (and low-wage if they were working) roles, such as cooking, cleaning, home-making and cosmetology. When organised sports appeared in the US in the 19th century, we discouraged or outright banned women and girls from participating, resulting in sports largely being characterised as male-dominated and even hypermasculine, something that persists today.

[[wikipedia:Title_IX|Title IX]], which prohibits sex-based discrimination in all government-funded forms of education, was heavily contested by opponents who wished to restrict the rights of women in athletics, lobbying to exclude it<ref name=":0" />. For example, the NCAA's executive director stated that Title IX was the "possible doom of intercollegiate sports", and Senator John Tower (TX) proposed amendments to exclude women from revenue-generating sports.

The idea of segregating sports by sex today relies on some assumption that women on average perform less well than men<ref name=":1">https://www.jstor.org/stable/24757601</ref>. They explain that early big sport organisations tried to exclude women whose performances were above expectations, by establishing "gender verifications" that accused those women of fraud. This happened even though there was (and is) no scientific proof such segregation makes logical sense on any material basis.

The thought process used to justify this segregation was, in fact, a tool used by segregationists to try to prove that material differences existed<ref name=":1" />. It seems as if this form of segregation exists to prevent us from making direct comparisons between the performance of the sexes in sports and athletics, which would prove beyond a doubt that there's no material difference. In fact, the implementation of sex-based segregation in fencing, rifle shooting and skeet shooting only began after a woman won against male competitors, implying that it only exists to reinforce masculine stereotypes. In some situations, opponents would even forfeit once they realised they were competing against a girl<ref>https://www.repository.law.indiana.edu/ijlse/vol8/iss1/3/</ref>.

When decades of attempts to prove that women performed less well than men at sports failed, sports organisations tried to find new reasons to continue to segregate sports by sex<ref name=":1" />. We can see examples of this in the media as recently as 2023, when [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/human-rights-court-rules-in-favor-of-olympic-champion-semenya-over-testosterone-rules Olympic medallist Caster Semenya won a court case that declared it was discriminatory for World Athletics to exclude her based on her natural testosterone levels].

While racism isn't the focus of this article, it is also worth noting that the regulations on testosterone levels are likely racist<ref>https://www.allure.com/story/caster-semenya-ruling-op-ed</ref>. This is partly because black women often have their femininity denied by racists, and many believe the regulations only used white women's testosterone levels as a guideline.

== Trans Segregation ==
Sports organisations tend to see gender ambiguity (which may be challenging to categorise) as a threat<ref name=":1" />. They further attempt to justify their segregation by measuring "hyperandrogenism", or heightened levels of testosterone, excluding women who produce more of it and don't go through medical treatments to lower it. However, this only proves Müller's point — that this doesn't represent a meaningful difference in performance. Instead, it is simply an extension of institutions' wish to continue to segregate sports by sex, apparently in an appeal to traditional values.

This train of thought also affects trans folks, sometimes in contradictory ways. Those who believe in biological essentialism may state that one's biology defines much of their sporting ability, stating that trans-feminine folks have an innate physical advantage due to being born male. As the big sports organisations use testosterone as a measure of "maleness," it is unsurprising those who support excluding trans-feminine folks from organised sports use the heightened testosterone levels of those assigned male at birth as a justification. They also usually ignore non-binary and trans-masculine folks, groups that tend to contradict many of their other arguments.

# '''The assumption that testosterone has a measurable effect on the performance of an athlete has little scientific basis, according to many studies:'''
#* Testosterone does not impact lean mass or hand grip strength in women<ref>https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-89232-1</ref>.
#* There's no evidence that including trans-feminine folks in sport would be unfair<ref name=":2">https://www.cces.ca/sites/default/files/content/docs/pdf/transgenderwomenathletesandelitesport-ascientificreview-e-final.pdf</ref>.
#* Regulations on testosterone levels were justified using significantly flawed data, and that the data, when corrected, contradicts the conclusion that the IAAF put forward. The IAAF also neglected to have their research peer-reviewed, and it contained a significant number of basic errors, such as duplicated athletes<ref>https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40318-019-00143-w</ref>.
#* The study used by the IAAF to justify its policies can only assert that raised testosterone levels had a positive impact on athletic ability for a couple of events. The data for 16 other events showed no impact, and for several other events, raised testosterone levels negatively impacted the athletes' abilities.
#* Coming up with a definition of "normal" testosterone levels is hard, and that one's testosterone levels naturally fluctuate constantly. Experts from different societies, countries, and even laboratories often don't agree on what a "normal" level of testosterone is<ref name=":3">https://theconversation.com/testosterone-why-defining-a-normal-level-is-hard-to-do-113587</ref>.
# '''While not all trans-feminine folks will, many of them do decide to undergo [[wikipedia:Transgender_hormone_therapy|hormone replacement therapy]], or HRT.''' HRT is a form of hormone therapy, which involves the administering of hormonal medications to help align trans folks' secondary sexual characteristics with their gender. This medication usually takes two forms, typically administered together:
#* Hormone blockers, which lower the production of a given hormone or inhibit the receptors for that hormone.
#* Medication providing supplemental hormones, matching the trans folk's gender and keeping their hormonal balance healthy. For pre-surgery trans-feminine folks, this medication will typically lower their testosterone levels and raise their oestrogen levels. This would imply that any potentially measurable benefits granted by their prior testosterone levels would become nullified through their medical treatment. Here's what the science has to say:
#* Feminising HRT lowers strength, hemoglobin levels, muscle area and lean body mass in trans-feminine folks<ref>https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8311086/</ref>. It also results in bone density compromise, and after 4 years, their muscle and fat mass, and performance is no different to that of cisgender women<ref name=":4">https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/109/2/e455/7223439</ref>. Current research suggests that trans women aren't physically different to cis women in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5">https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.05.25326994v1</ref>.
#* Masculinising HRT in non-athletic trans-masculine folks results in a performance level no different to cisgender men after 1 to 3 years.<ref name=":4" /> Current research suggests that trans men aren't physically different to cis men in any way that matters for sports<ref name=":5" />. While studies opine that trans-feminine folks may generally retain some minor long-term advantages over cisgender women, competitive sports organisations already accept and account for similar deviations in abilities and advantages in cisgender women<ref name=":2" />.
# '''While advocates for banning trans folks from sports often use children as a talking point, claims that banning trans children from sports is an issue of protecting other children seem nebulous at best:'''
#* Lawmakers have largely been unable to cite local examples of trans girls competing in sports. Where examples are available, there appears to be no evidence that including trans children results in competitive unfairness<ref>https://apnews.com/article/lawmakers-unable-to-cite-local-trans-girls-sports-914a982545e943ecc1e265e8c41042e7</ref>.
#* The "protect the children" rhetoric has been used to demonise members of the LGBT+ community since the early 1900s, and potentially even earlier than that<ref>https://www.washingtonpost.com/made-by-history/2023/07/24/groomer-lgbtq-germany-children/</ref>.
# '''Advocates for banning trans folks from sports often include non-physical sports, coming up with the same conclusions. This suggests that this is more about transphobia and misogyny than any idea of fairness:'''
#* A trans-feminine snooker player, faced harassment after her tournament win. This included calls from former world number one Maria Catalano, who called for trans players to be banned from women's tournaments<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/snooker/62821241</ref>.
#* The International Chess Federation (FIDE) effectively declared that women are less intelligent than men. It effectively banned trans women from competing in women's competitions for up to two years, and decided to remove some titles won by both trans men and women in their respective categories<ref>https://www.npr.org/2023/08/18/1194593562/chess-transgender-fide-pushback</ref>.
#* Professional pool player Lynne Pinches turned down her first ever professional contract, when the World Eightball Pool Federation reversed its ban on trans players<ref>https://www.bbc.com/sport/wales/68183503</ref>.
#* Several cis Dutch women's darts veterans quit when they realised their team included a trans woman, complaining about fairness in the sport<ref>https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240325-dutch-women-s-darts-veterans-quit-over-transgender-team-mate</ref>.
#* [https://www.shewon.org/ SheWon.org] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20250000000000*/https://www.shewon.org/ Wayback Machine]) frames trans-feminine athletes as "males in women's sporting events" that stole cis women's achievements by beating them, lists various non-physical sports, including billiards, darts, esports, poker, pool, and snooker. It also lists numerous "non-athletic competitions", including Jeopardy game show wins, beauty competitions, scholarships, democratic elections, Forbes lists, and hot-dog-eating competitions. The site also contains a list of trans-feminine athletes, including many of their deadnames. Additionally, as is typical for those who would exclude trans folks from sports, the site pretends that trans-masculine folks don't exist. Websites like this exist to justify hate, rather than discuss current issues on their merits. This is just one example of a huge number of outlets for similar hate campaigns.

== Direct Impact ==
It goes without saying that this page wouldn't exist, had there been no reason to discuss this disinformation. Unfortunately, the disinformation discussed above has had many real-world consequences.

The following points are true as of April 2024:

* In 2023, [https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/council-meeting-march-2023-russia-belarus-female-eligibility World Athletics introduced new regulations] regarding the eligibility of transgender athletes and female athletes with "differences of sex development". These regulations require female athletes with "differences of sexual development" to medicate for at least two years, with the aim of reducing their testosterone levels. This requirement applies to all events, including those that were previously unrestricted. They also ban all trans-feminine athletes who had a male puberty from participating in female World Rankings competitions. Due to the current state of trans healthcare legislation, this impacts most trans-feminine individuals, and this problem is likely to get worse due to the current political climate. In what we can only describe as cruel irony, these regulations came into effect on the 31st of March 2023, Transgender Day of Visibility. These new regulations also affected many cis women of colour<ref name=":6">https://www.washingtonblade.com/2023/03/24/trans-women-banned-from-track-and-field-intersex-athletes-restricted/</ref>, effectively banning them from competing due to their race<ref name=":3" />.
* Government officials attempted to pass at least 48 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75144</ref> attempting to ban trans youth from participating in school sports or in teams that correspond with their gender in 2024. They also attempted to pass 33 bills<ref>https://www.aclu.org/legislative-attacks-on-lgbtq-rights-2024?impact=75143</ref> restricting access to school facilities for trans youth. Four related bills have passed so far this year:
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/AL/SB129 AL SB129]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/ID/H0455 ID H0455]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/UT/HB0172 UT HB0172]
** [https://translegislation.com/bills/2024/WI/AB377 WI AB377]
* Excluding women based on their hormone levels does little to contribute to equal opportunities for them. For example, Maximila Imali, a top Kenyan runner disqualified due to her high testosterone levels, is struggling to support her partner and family, feed her son and pay the rent<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/24/world/africa/olympic-intersex-maximila-imali.html</ref>. Banning female athletes from their careers serves to make them poorer, and may prevent them from meeting an acceptable quality of life. We're unsure what mental gymnastics one needs to characterise this as "protecting women", but that's how World Athletics puts it: "This is why we introduced the eligibility regulation and why it must be defended: to ensure fair competition for all women."<ref>https://worldathletics.org/news/press-release/questions-answers-iaaf-female-eligibility-reg</ref> As mentioned above, this also seems to have a disproportionate effect on women of colour<ref name=":6" />.

== Conclusion ==
While further research is necessary to fully understand the effects of transitioning on one's body, the above context shows that there's no real reason to exclude trans folks from sports. Indeed, the scientific evidence seems to contradict every argument made supporting banning trans folks, and it also seems that many advocates for that aren't arguing based on any reasonable or factual basis.

While it is impossible for any article to be absolutely inclusive of all possible information, we believe that the context we've provided above shows that there's no reasonable basis for excluding trans folks from sport. If you come across further studies or information that you feel should be included here, please contact us or [[Meta:Contributing|learn how to contribute]].

== References ==
<references />

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Admin:

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