They think trans women have an unfair advantage in… fishing?
Three members of an English women’s fishing team in England are refusing to compete at the world championships due to the fact that one of their own teammates is trans.
The Shore Angling World Championships will take place in Italy in November, and the board of the sport’s governing body, the Angling Trust, has said it will not prevent trans angler Becky Lee Birtwhistle Hodges from applying to compete.
OK, I may be wrong on this one, and I may have my inbox murdered for this, but I am on the fence here. No, not because I feel the trans woman has any advantages over the other women, but in a sport like fishing, or even esports, there are women’s leagues because the men dominate the current participation rosters, have better sponsors and training and equipment and therefore make it exclusionary to women. Having a women’s league promotes being more inclusive in the sport and creating a level (not fair, level) playing field for those who would typically not get the opportunity to compete.
I know this is further complicated by the fact that trans people are even more marginalized than women, and should therefore have more encouragement to participate in these competitions.
My view is that I would let the trans woman participate, I just also get the fact that some people may have reasonable feelings relating to why they feel this kind of thing does a disservice to them. But then there are other people who are just discriminatory assholes. I get that too.