Paris Paralympic Games: The Unfair Criticism of Transgender Paralympian Valentina Petrillo

[Social Media]

 

When the Olympic season arrives, certain aspects are expected: world records, memes, emerging sporting heroes, heartwarming moments, and learning more about the host nation. Unfortunately, another element has become just as inevitable: the heated discussions surrounding transgender athletes' participation.

 

 

As a transgender person, I’ve watched with increasing concern as the conversation about our inclusion in sports has intensified over the years. With every major sporting event, critics emerge, claiming that transgender participation is “ruining women’s sport,” and some international sports associations have even gone so far as to ban trans women from elite sports entirely, extending their reach to niche activities like chess.

 

This harmful discourse consistently targets one unfortunate athlete for abuse. In 2021, New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard bore the brunt of the vitriol, accused of having an unfair advantage despite finishing last in her event. This year, the focus has shifted to Italian transgender woman Valentina Petrillo, a 50-year-old sprinter set to compete in the T12 200m and 400m sprints at the Paris Paralympic Games. Valentina previously won bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championship last year in Paris.

 

It is heartening to see the Paralympics, governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), standing firm in its commitment to inclusion. IPC President Andrew Parsons has publicly stated that Valentina is welcome to compete under their policies. However, Parsons also called for a "united" position on trans athletes across sports, a stance that could bring both positive and negative consequences. For instance, World Athletics has already banned trans women from competing in the female category, a precedent I hope the Paralympics will not follow.

 

Valentina Petrillo does not deserve the torrent of abuse she has faced. On social media, anti-trans voices have misgendered her, accused her of having an unfair advantage, commented on her age, and even questioned whether she has a visual impairment. This treatment underscores the extreme levels of stigma and exclusion that transgender people like me still face in society.

 

Ironically, Valentina's participation highlights the importance of inclusion in sports. Banning trans women from elite sports will only deepen the sense of exclusion felt by transgender people. Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this situation is the sudden interest many people have in women’s sports and the Paralympics, despite having shown no prior concern. The involvement of a transgender athlete seems to have turned these individuals into self-proclaimed experts on T12 sprinting events, providing them with yet another platform to express their prejudice.

 

In reality, far more pressing issues affect women’s sports than the participation of a trans woman in the Paralympics. A July report by UNESCO revealed that women’s access to sports is still significantly lagging, urging member states to address the inequalities women face at all levels of sports. These challenges include gender-based violence, higher dropout rates for girls, and a lack of women in leadership roles within sports. Yet, those who are the loudest about trans inclusion in sports rarely address these pressing issues, leading me to conclude that their outrage is not genuinely about women’s rights but rather rooted in misguided prejudice against transgender people.

 

Excluding trans athletes from competing according to their gender identity goes against the spirit of sport, which is about friendship, solidarity, and fair play. As individual sporting bodies navigate these decisions, they must recognize the impact of their actions and consider how they may be contradicting the very principles that sports are meant to uphold. 

 

I hope the Paralympics maintain their policy of inclusion, setting an example for the Olympics to follow—not only because it is fair but because it is the right thing to do. Valentina Petrillo, having been cleared to compete, has done nothing wrong. She deserves to enjoy her experience at the Paralympics just like any other athlete, free from the barrage of abuse that has plagued trans athletes in recent years. Her achievements should be celebrated and respected, not questioned or diminished.

 

Exclusion achieves nothing positive. It fundamentally misunderstands the foundation and purpose of sport at its most basic level. We all deserve the same opportunities, respect, dignity, and solidarity—including transgender athletes.

 

Credit: Metro 2024-09-02

 

 

 

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[impulse]

3 hours ago, Social Media said:

Exclusion achieves nothing positive. It fundamentally misunderstands the foundation and purpose of sport at its most basic level. We all deserve the same opportunities, respect, dignity, and solidarity—including transgender athletes.

 

You do have the same opportunity.  You're either XX or you're XY.  Compete in the correct category, according to your biology.  Not your feelings.

 

Is anyone trying to stop Valentina from competing in the men's (XY) category?  Other than not making the cut?

 

 

[JonnyF]

5 hours ago, Social Media said:

Excluding trans athletes from competing according to their gender identity goes against the spirit of sport, which is about friendship, solidarity, and fair play.

 

Fair play?

 

Nothing fair about letting men compete against women. It's pretty much the definition of unfair.

 

Time to stop gaslighting on this issue and tell it how it is. 

[MicroB]

5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

 

Fair play?

 

Nothing fair about letting men compete against women. It's pretty much the definition of unfair.

 

Time to stop gaslighting on this issue and tell it how it is. 

 

About 5% of transgender people have identifiable chromosomal abnormalities. A previous poster implied tha humankind was XX or XY, and refused to acknowledge people with known chromosomal abnormalities.

 

Science is continuously identifying new disorders. The most obvious disorders, such as XXY, leads to things like Down's Syndrome, which has an obvious phenotype. Many of these  conditions lead to no obvious cognition disorders or other health issues that are commonly recognised. There is huge under diagnosis in the population, because of a lack of testing facilities, physician ignorance or lack of an obvioius phenotype in the new born. In addition, to chromosomal abnormalities leading to gender incongruence, there are also recognised point mutations. Fpr instance, changes in the CYP17 gene has been found to be associated with transsexulism in men but not women. In men and women, changes in the andorgen receptor affects binding to testerone affecting the development of male characteristics.

 

If there is unfairness, its unfairness in biology. Its unfair that the activities of the parents (smoking, drinking, obesity etc) might affect the child.

 

Note, all of the criticism I see levied is male to female transgender. Part of the criticism I suspect is freudian; some of those most criticial of homosexuality turn out to be in the closet. Similarly gender incongruence. the critics include men who secretly want to dress up in a frock.

 

Notably, there is no criticism of female to male atheletes. What have you to say about Chris Mosier or Mack Beggs? Mack Beggs was a female wrestler who transitioned to male. He received testosterone during his treatment.  Texas basically banned transgender atheletes; they could only complete based on sex at birth. The legislators forced him to wrestle girls, despite muscle advantage. He wanted to compete as a male, and subsequent developed mental health issues. Other transmen atheletes include Shay Price (bodybuilding), Jordan Jackson (taekwondo), Chris Floyd (boxer).

 

 

Most of the criticism of transwomen athletes comes from men. Its like the secretly gay man repressing homosexuals. They are offended because they see themselves as transwomen, but mummy always hit them when they wanted to try on her high heels.

 

If transgenderism represents some kind of biological advantage in extremis, then the appropriate approach in sports is to eliminate all biological disadvantage, level the playing field. Allow science  to address disadvantage. That could be reducing a pack of runners to the level of the slowest, or the quickest. Or, without using drugs, introduce handicap systems, used for hundreds of years in many sports without controversy.

 

Or for some sports eliminate the gender basis eg golf, snooker, darts.

 

 

 

 

[JonnyF]

15 minutes ago, MicroB said:

Notably, there is no criticism of female to male atheletes.

 

Female to male athletes rarely wish to compete against real males. It's a disadvantage. 

 

What's the word I am looking for? Oh that's right, unfair. Just like male to female athletes competing against women. 

 

Those with chromosome abnormalities are a minority within a minority. Their numbers are so small that to focus on this is just to deflect. There is an argument for creating a specific category in the special olympics for them but they cannot be used to justify men dressed as women dominating Elite womens sport as you are attempting to do.

 

 

[n00dle]

27 minutes ago, MicroB said:

Notably, there is no criticism of female to male atheletes.

there are so few of them because there is no advantage in it. 

[LukKrueng]

2 hours ago, MicroB said:

 

About 5% of transgender people have identifiable chromosomal abnormalities. A previous poster implied tha humankind was XX or XY, and refused to acknowledge people with known chromosomal abnormalities.

 

Science is continuously identifying new disorders. The most obvious disorders, such as XXY, leads to things like Down's Syndrome, which has an obvious phenotype. Many of these  conditions lead to no obvious cognition disorders or other health issues that are commonly recognised. There is huge under diagnosis in the population, because of a lack of testing facilities, physician ignorance or lack of an obvioius phenotype in the new born. In addition, to chromosomal abnormalities leading to gender incongruence, there are also recognised point mutations. Fpr instance, changes in the CYP17 gene has been found to be associated with transsexulism in men but not women. In men and women, changes in the andorgen receptor affects binding to testerone affecting the development of male characteristics.

 

If there is unfairness, its unfairness in biology. Its unfair that the activities of the parents (smoking, drinking, obesity etc) might affect the child.

 

Note, all of the criticism I see levied is male to female transgender. Part of the criticism I suspect is freudian; some of those most criticial of homosexuality turn out to be in the closet. Similarly gender incongruence. the critics include men who secretly want to dress up in a frock.

 

Notably, there is no criticism of female to male atheletes. What have you to say about Chris Mosier or Mack Beggs? Mack Beggs was a female wrestler who transitioned to male. He received testosterone during his treatment.  Texas basically banned transgender atheletes; they could only complete based on sex at birth. The legislators forced him to wrestle girls, despite muscle advantage. He wanted to compete as a male, and subsequent developed mental health issues. Other transmen atheletes include Shay Price (bodybuilding), Jordan Jackson (taekwondo), Chris Floyd (boxer).

 

 

Most of the criticism of transwomen athletes comes from men. Its like the secretly gay man repressing homosexuals. They are offended because they see themselves as transwomen, but mummy always hit them when they wanted to try on her high heels.

 

If transgenderism represents some kind of biological advantage in extremis, then the appropriate approach in sports is to eliminate all biological disadvantage, level the playing field. Allow science  to address disadvantage. That could be reducing a pack of runners to the level of the slowest, or the quickest. Or, without using drugs, introduce handicap systems, used for hundreds of years in many sports without controversy.

 

Or for some sports eliminate the gender basis eg golf, snooker, darts.

 

 

 

 

You really have to read some more about the xxy abnormalities. It has nothing to do with transgenders, most men with this condition don't even know they have the extra X.

[LukKrueng]

13 hours ago, Social Media said:

As a transgender person, I’ve watched with increasing concern as the conversation about our inclusion in sports has intensified over the years

How would you feel if healthy athletes will play on the paralympic games? 

[john donson]

women's rights clearly abused by... men

 

sick that organizations don't have the ballz these men have to dare compete again women

 

other participants maybe should forfeit if they see a men is competing, they will lose anyway, so lose with dignity 

[pacovl46]

Well, a lot of people I've talked to see it the same was as I do:

 

It has absolutely nothing to with them being transgender. I don't care about what you want to identify as. It's your life and you should live it the way you see fit. But it's simply and obviously unfair to let a male to female transitioner compete against women, especially when that person went through male puberty and transitioned later in life. That person will have larger muscles, larger lungs, larger bodies, which will be a massive advantage, especially in swimming, and chances are, biological women won't stand a chance. How would you feel about Mike Tyson competing in female heavyweight boxing against a biological women??? Transversely, a female to male transitioner won't stand the slightest chance against a biological male. Just look at male and female tennis. Serenea Williams, who is number 1, said it herself, if she completed with the males, she'd be placed 200 at best because males are quicker, faster, harder hitting and it's a completely different game. 

 

Transgender people should compete in their own classes, if they can get enough if them together. That would make it fair. 

[Bkk Brian]

So turns out he couldn't beat the women anyway   

 

Transgender runner fails to qualify for women's 400-meter final at 2024 Paralympic Games

[James105]

On 9/2/2024 at 3:38 AM, Social Media said:

Banning trans women from elite sports will only deepen the sense of exclusion felt by transgender people.

 

Trans women are NOT banned from elite sports.  They have always been allowed to compete in the correct category for their sex, just like every other mediocre male "athlete".   They are banned from elite sports in much the same way I am banned from elite sports by simply not being an elite sportsman.