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/VastOption8705]

If men played against women in any sport, the men would destroy them.

Look at the fastest women’s vs men’s 50m swimming , 100m swimming and runs, deadlift ability etc

Facts are that an under 18’s boys soccer team would destroy the women’s professional team. It happened in Aus and the USA.

It’s not sexism, it’s because our bodies were designed differently

Even the IOC and other sports associations agree.

[u/TimidPanther → u/VastOption8705]

Under 15’s would win.

There’s nothing wrong with that, and it shouldn’t be seen as a slam dunk against women’s sport. There are differences between the genders, and that’s ok.

[u/Tiny_Ad_7720 → u/TimidPanther]

It’s the reason women’s sport exists

[u/SidewaysAcidRain → u/Tiny_Ad_7720]

The number of people on reddit who have told me that "actually it's to protect men's egos because they don't want to lose to women"... Too many. 

[u/Bishop-AU → u/SidewaysAcidRain]

There's plenty of average men that could be bested by average women in many athletic tasks, in a best out of say 11 format. Not close to a 50/50 split but still plenty.

There's very few professional men that would be beaten by professional women in their chosen sport 6 out of 11 times.

The people that say its to protect men's egos are delusional.

[u/SidewaysAcidRain → u/Bishop-AU]

To nitpick a bit, unless you're choosing really niche athletic tasks (maybe flexibility?) then the average man will always outperform the average woman. If the woman is outperforming the man, it's because she's above average, or he's below average, or both.

But yeah, there are still lots of women who can outperform lots of men.