Trans athletes have no advantage in strategy or technique, sports exec says

House Republicans hosted a hearing with Stephanie Turner and the chairman of USA Fencing in the wake of a now viral incident in which Turner took a knee rather than compete against a transgender athlete

During the hearing, Republicans tried to build their case for banning transgender athletes from women's sports

Here's what happened. Republicans shared a letter they received from an Olympic fencing coach that stated

transgender women have advantages over biological women, including body size, reach, shoulder width, muscle development, explosive strength, and recovery capacity

They cited a U.N. report that found women have been severely injured competing against

transgender athletes and that testosterone suppression does not eliminate competitive advantages. They also pointed to a New York Times-Ipsos poll from January

that found 79% of Americans believe trans athletes should be banned from women's sports

Despite claiming the science and public sentiment backs their point of view

they still use divisive rhetoric to describe transgender athletes. Now you're going to hear from our Democrat colleagues who are going to fight

for these mentally ill, biological men to continue beating women and stealing their

competitions, stealing their medals, and stealing their national championships. Democrats say Republicans are politicizing the issue

They pointed out that the hearing was being hosted by the Department of Government Efficiency Subcommittee within the House Oversight Committee

which is in charge of ensuring the executive branch and federal departments follow the law and do their duty

And this hearing literally has nothing to do with that. In fact it has nothing to do with anything that falls under the Oversight and Accountability Committee jurisdiction As for Turner she says there are 200 self transgender athletes within USA Fencing and she has long opposed competing against them

It's unbelievably demeaning to female fencers to put down the differences between men and women

and any woman's loss to a man as a skill issue, or that a woman simply needs to work harder

The chairman of USA Fencing said the organization allows mixed bouts. He said gender does not provide an advantage when it comes to strategy and technique and that other perceived inequalities are not what they appear

Those bouts show that mixed gender competition, in fencing at least, does not pose any significant safety risks above and beyond single gender fencing competition

The same is true for fencing involving transgender participation. Additionally, while some attributes more common in men, such as height and physical strength, can certainly confer an advantage in a fencing bout, women more commonly exhibit other advantageous traits such as flexibility and agility

Democrats also brought in the CEO of the National Women's Law Center, who said transgender athletes can be subject to discrimination and need protection in sports

For example, denying trans kids the chance to find teammates who have their back, that's harmful

School officials secretly investigating girls' gender to make sure that they are feminine enough to play

That is harmful and that is dangerous. 23 states have laws that restrict transgender athletes from competing in sports leagues that do not match with their birth gender

There are efforts to pass laws like that in all 50 states. I'm Marie Bogan for Straight Hour News

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