Peter Tatchell v Kellie-Jay Minshall

Will ”inclusion” be the death of Female Sport?

The interview takes place in the context of new guidance from the International Olympic Committee which has removed the requirement for male athletes to reduce their testosterone levels, to be allowed to compete in female sport. This despite experts who argue a testosterone fuelled puberty conferred significant advantages, on men, irrespective of present levels of testosterone. Now the Olympic committee has removed even that requirement.

GB News is one of the few outlets to allow discussion of this topic and once again they lead the way by platforming Kellie-Jay Minshall, founder of Standing For Women and noted advocate for the female sex. Since very few people from the Transgender community wish there to be a debate they often rely on Peter Tatchell. He has no hesitation weighing in on the side of the Trans Lobby.

You can read the transcript here:

Peter Tatchell and Posy Parker GB news

Asked for her opinion on the ruling Kellie-Jay responds with her trademark directness:

The intervewer, Mark Dolan, asks why she thinks this situation has come about because ”it doesn’t sound like science” . Minshall responds with her view that it is being driven by, well networked, activists who have completely disregarded the female sex. In a sane world the interview could have ended here: 👇

Naturally the interviewer feels compelled to put the opposite view, it is called ”The Clash” after all. I remain hopeful that the day will come where women’s rights campaigners don’t have to rebut accusations of ”transphobia” every time we stick up for ourselves:

Of course he knows perfectly well that Kellie-Jay won’t repeat this thought terminating cliche and she doesn’t disappoint, bluntly refusing to say men can become women.

Now Mark turns to Peter Tatchell with an introduction about his Human Rights activity and a plug for his new Netflix documentary ”Hating Peter Tatchell”. Like many of us the interviewer seems bemused that this is the hill Peter has chose to die on. Tatchell responds with his oft-repeated claim to have been a Trans Ally for 50 years. He embarks on the usual, appeal to emotion for the “persecuted” trans community. Even if this were true it has zero to do with the matter at hand and the interviewer pulls him up on this later.

First of all he conflates the issue of people with disorders of sexual development with trans-identified males. It is true that there have been athletes, whose sex was male, who have competed in the female category. They may have been unaware of their biological sex but had the advantage of a testosterone fuelled puberty. It’s odd that these athletes have been treated more harshly than males whose sex was not a late discovery. We can dismiss this argument as a red herring. He then argues that the trans community have been singled out for particularly harsh treatment citing the example of the physical advantages of, the swimmer, Michael Phelps. Another spurious argument. Many athletes are blessed with exceptional physical gifts, hence tall basket ball players. The category they compete in is based on their sex because, on average, males can out compete females in most sports. He continues this theme by talking about large, female Rugby players and a tiny ”transwoman” he knows who plays football. He also claims the jury is still out on the advantages of testosterone, this is an egregious falsehood.

Watch out for his other line of attack , claiming we need to do individual assessments. No! We need to preserve female categories and not be compelled to take mediocre male sports people under our wing. If they are not good enough for the elite male category they don’t get to demand entry into women’s sports.

In fact the jury is very much in: 

Trans-Identifying Males in Female Sports

It is noticeable that he doesn’t compare male Rugby players to the female team members and Minshall, quite rightly, points this out. The male rugby players are much larger than the females. She goes in to point out that elite sports women, like Serena Williams would be ranked 700 when measured against male players. She also highlights the very real danger of assuming women can play against men: raising the very real danger of serious injury.

A trans-identified male (Joanna Harper) who initially argued that male inclusion was fair has changed their position as set out in this paper. 👇. This is by someone who is very much in favour of “transwomen” participating in female sports categories.

Joanna Harper

Here is another paper worth tracking down. In it the authors argue that the people most likely to show ”Transgender Prejudice” about competing against males are the women who want to WIN! 🤷‍♂️ . No shit Sherlock!

Lest you assume every trans-identified male demands entry into womens sport here are two who recognise the advantages conferred by their biological sex.

Kellie-Jay manages to cover the wider issues beyond elite sports; relating to sport for amateurs and just for fun. The inclusion of males has implications for female only changing rooms and for opportunities for camaraderie among women/girls. The lion’s share of the interview is given over to Tatchell which may be due to his typical male behaviour (interrupting and speaking over the interviewer) or, in fairness, it could, simply, be due to his views being more open to challenge.

Kellie-Jay is once more called upon to call a man ”she” or risk being considered ”transphobic”. She is also asked if she would call Caitlin Jenner ”She”. Her response is to express unconcern about the label if it means she can speak the truth. Mark Dolan tells her that is rather intolerant. Kelly points out that it is not appropriate for her to be compelled to use language that doesn’t make sense and, crucially, that it is rare to have to use someones pronouns while they are present.

There are some amusing exchanges about the olympic competitor, Laurel Hubbard who stole a place from a female athlete. This conversation continues while footage of Hubbard is shown competing against women and also accepting an award for female, sports player, of the year.

This is hubbard on the podium. He is a middle-aged man who appears to be very out of condition. He nevertheless stole a place from an exceptional female. A picture that speaks a thousand words. 👇

Theres a hypothetical scenario introduced in respect of a world class footballer switching ”gender” to compete in the female category. Notice Peter switches to female pronouns even for a hypothetical transwoman! Theres a bit of back and forth and interruptions and Tatchell tried to address Minshall directly and (deliberately?) gets her name wrong. We hear more about a tiny ”transwoman” friend of Peter who plays on a female football team and is loved by one and all of the, presumably, amazonian women he plays alongside.

The interviewer sums up the ludicrous nature of Tatchell’s argument rather well so I will end with this: 👇

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