Another one of those pesky conundrums for liberals has reared its ugly head. Whose rights trump whose when a dispute arises between two so-called “protected classes”? The Left is still sorting out the wreckage from a 2014 incident in which a Muslim barber refused to cut the hair of a lesbian and another from this year involving a Muslim salon worker who refused to wax a trans woman’s testicles.
And now a new head scratcher has emerged. The catalyst is the 2018 UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships, which was won last Sunday by Rachel McKinnon, who was born a biological male and now identifies as a transgender female. (That’s McKinnon in the center in the above photo.)
While many of the other contestants are celebrating McKinnon’s victory, not all of them are on board. The day after the race,
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
I was the 3rd place rider. It’s definitely NOT fair.
— jen wagner-assali (@jkwagnermd) October 15, 2018
The tweet touched off a firestorm on Twitter. Here are some of the more typical reactions:
For clarity – this was the WOMENS world championships.
I repeat. Women’s.
Congratulations to the brave faces of silver & bronze. The world is gripped by a febrile madness. pic.twitter.com/P6VkaNFeyy
— Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) October 14, 2018
The replies on this bigoted-ass hot take are obscenely transphobic. While trans athletes in the competitive level of sports is a complex issue, no denying that, you are directly placing a target on trans women for violence with this kind of tweet. Do better.
— Cierra Irish (@cierrairish) October 16, 2018
It wasn’t fair! Love and support for you, the rightful winner of silver!!
— Anisse (@karolann7) October 18, 2018
Not fair how exactly? I honestly want to know what magical advantage transphobes think she had with their complete lack of understanding of how muscle, bone structure, bone density, hormones, and whatever else they think all actually function.
— Emily (@MsEmilyTired) October 16, 2018
I find it fascinating that some of the women crying “transphobia” are no doubt diehard feminists who go ballistic at the first hint that a woman is being treated unfairly.
McKinnon has not weighed in on this controversy, though “she” made her feelings clear in January in an interview with USA Today. In it, she said:
We cannot have a woman legally recognized as a trans woman in society and not be recognized that way in sports. … Focusing on performance advantage is largely irrelevant because this is a rights issue. We shouldn’t be worried about trans people taking over the Olympics. We should be worried about their fairness and human rights instead.
One is tempted here to look for parallels between this controversy and the one surrounding Colin Kaepernick, but this situation is far more insidious. Once the national anthem at a football game ends, the knee-takers rise and join their teams. Here an athlete is admitting to having a competitive edge but saying it’s immaterial because fairness is not what the sport is about. On the contrary, fairness is all any sport is about.
