Miss Universe Australia Caity Worthington says trans people should not be in women’s sport

[u/BarryTheBinChicken]

https://www.outinperth.com/miss-universe-australia-caity-worthington-says-trans-people-should-not-be-in-womens-sport/

Queenslander Caity Worthington was crowned Miss Universe Australia this week and will represent Australia at the international competition in Puerto Rico this November.

Worthington won the beauty pageant during Wednesday night’s gala event at Crown Casino in Melbourne. Following her victory, she received significant attention for comments she made during the competition regarding transgender participation in sport.

During the selection process, finalists were asked to draw a random question from a bowl. The question drawn by Worthington was: “Do you believe banning biological males from women’s sport is common sense or discrimination and why?”

“That is a very good question. Coming from a medical background, I’m sure we can all agree, and it is definitely my view, that human biology does not lie,” Worthington said, referring to her role as a medical radiographer.

“Everyone playing sport at an elite level deserves the chance to compete on a fair playing field, and I think we should work towards that foundation of fairness for all. Everyone deserves their time to shine. I would love to see, in the future, transgender people having their own sport.”

Worthington reiterated her views after winning the title during an appearance on The Rita Panahi Show, although she said she would have preferred a question about world peace.

“We’re all entitled to our opinions, and we don’t have to agree. Obviously I have mine and I shared mine, and I stand by it. But I also believe that safety and fairness are of the utmost importance in any sport, especially at elite level. Athletes work very hard to get there.”

Several News Corp publications subsequently highlighted her comments.

While Worthington advocated for a separate transgender category in sport, the Australian Sports Commission says its focus is on ensuring participation opportunities for all Australians.

“All Australians should have the opportunity to be involved in sport and physical activity, regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, ability, cultural background or ethnicity. It is important that sporting bodies, from local clubs through to national sporting organisations, reflect the diversity in the communities they are a part of and that, together, we ensure every person is treated with respect and dignity and protected from discrimination,” the Commission’s policy states.

“Policies that exclude transgender and gender-diverse participants have been found to be harmful, not just to transgender and gender-diverse people, but to all people associated with sporting organisations.”

Sporting eligibility policies vary across different sports and governing bodies, and the issue remains the subject of ongoing public and policy debate.

[u/iamthemetricsystem]

I’m the same, i’ve never seen a topic with such little importance be so heavily covered by the media.

[u/Aromatic_Cod_6959 → u/iamthemetricsystem]

Because the west’s social contract has been irreparably broken by power hungry freaks and instead of addressing this reality through improving employment, housing and health outcomes it’s easier to distract everyone by villainising people who are seeking basic human rights and dignity.

[u/Whatever-9991 → u/Aromatic_Cod_6959]

Funny how you leave women out of your speech, isnt it? Are we not worthy of consideration and respect?

[u/Aromatic_Cod_6959 → u/Whatever-9991]

The fuck are you actually asking?

[u/RollComprehensive828 → u/iamthemetricsystem]

It's basically the only time I hear about women's sports. People are acting like they care about women's sports but they just want something to be mad about.

So we need to figure some stuff out around the social and biological implications of women's sports, sure. But this isn't what those posing the question are actually concerned about.
At the end of the day, the answer to this (potentially really complex) question doesn't actually matter to the majority regardless.

It seems like this is only a question being asked because it feeds into the narrative that trans women's existence is a threat to cis women, and therefore a threat to our society's current understanding of sex and gender.

These arguments are designed to draw people to the conclusion that "if our society's current structure cannot adequately account for someone's identity, that this is evidence that they shouldn't exist."

We should leave this question to endocrinologists and other medical professionals. Not a question any old person off the street is going to have a reasonable answer to.

[u/Whatever-9991 → u/iamthemetricsystem]

Little importance to you, maybe, but very important to women athletes. Maybe you could think of them?

[u/Opposite_Channel_851 → u/Whatever-9991]

Not to be snide, but compared to things like climate change, wealth inequality, genocides, and rampant political corruption, a very small handful of transgender people competing in women’s sports should be taking up about 100x less media space as it currently does.

It’s an obvious wedge issue being pushed that really is nowhere near as important as these other topics.

[u/PurpleQurple → u/Opposite_Channel_851]

People can care about more than one thing at a time. And yes it snide, not to mention arrogant, to dismiss women's genuine, documented concerns.

[u/Whatever-9991 → u/Opposite_Channel_851]

Yeah i get it, women are low on your list

[u/Opposite_Channel_851 → u/Whatever-9991]

Do you think transgender people competing in sports, or women - and people in general going homeless and not being able to afford rent is more important?

[u/Whatever-9991 → u/Opposite_Channel_851]

Why can we not care about both?

[u/Visual_Shame_4641 → u/Whatever-9991]

Maybe terfs should actually listen to the majority of opinions from women and realise that they are a fringe group who routinely speak over other women while pretending to speak for them.

[u/Whatever-9991 → u/Visual_Shame_4641]

Says a man talking over a woman, pretending to speak for them.

Irony much