A clear and comprehensive explanation from Mara. Legitimising this as a race category is absurd and requires buying in to an entire ideology.
Everyone has a sex, whether they acknowledge it or not, and that is all that is relevant in sports. If there were no differences between male and female performance then there would be no sex categories in sport, in fact it is only because of the need for a female category that the Non Binary category is being entertained! Nobody would contemplate sporting categories 'Humans with a sex' and 'Humans without a sex'.
If a group of similarly identifying runners wish to find community and feel more included, they can (and do) start a running club. A Non-binary club could offer club prizes to it's members in races of choice, as many clubs already do. Similarly trans identifying runners, scientologists and cheese lovers.
Agreed. Mara's issue, and many others', with non-binary is the overreach—conflating it with the relevant sex categories requires that race organizations and all other competitors buy into gender identity ideology.
Mara Yamauchi is a tireless advocate for female sports.
Myself, I don't have a problem with people registering as "nonbinary" to keep the "cheats" out of male and female sports. I'd replace "nonbinary" with "noncomforming" and require anyone who doesn't identify with their biological sex to register there.
And there's good reason for this, since trans-identified females (or nonbinary) might be on synthetic testosterone, and can't fairly compete as female, and shouldn't distort the sex-based stats for males either. So it makes sense to keep them separate.
So far in the Twin cities an average BIG event has 3 nonbinary entries per race, so clearly prizes there is senseless. It is a vanity class at best. But for inclusion I support "male awards" should be expanded to "All gender awards" and males, female, and nonconforming people can all compete there for overall top-3, or age division top-3 for instance. (Sometimes a female can beat all her male rivals, go Wanda Gau!)
I'm mainly talking about amateur level, but if there's enough "noncomforming" top-level runners at an event, they can have their own prizes, while we know in practice, if there's prizes, there's no clear way to stop fully functional males from competing there as "tier 2 males" for taking they money.
What is a "nonbinary" person? What is a "Trans-identified" person? Everything I've seen says it is "self-ID" and can't be questioned, so there's no standard but feelings, sincere or not. Maybe everyone with blue hair is also "noncomforming"?
Overall, I'd pass the torch to trans-gender organizations to get prizes for their runners if they like, and again, it's all good if "tier 2" straight cis-males with some good speed can call themselves trans or nonbinary for a day to get some easy cash. Let the fun begin!
As Mara pointed out, I don't agree with just having a garbage category just because race orgs are too spineless to enforce their rules. Slow males who are willing to grift to win, males or females who are doping, people who are demanding that others affirm their ideology. Nope. Anyone can show up as their authentic self and race--and every non-binary person knows what sex that authentic self is.
Typos, noncomforming --> Nonconforming, although we could have a comforting category, I suppose, but also no prizes there either unless they raise their own.
p.s. For race qualifiers, like Boston, I agree problem if easier standard than men' times, while if they set male standard (which is very hard) there will be even fewer entries who pass, or again "tier 2" males will certainly take any easier standards if allowed, not to win, but just to make the cut.
A clear and comprehensive explanation from Mara. Legitimising this as a race category is absurd and requires buying in to an entire ideology.
Everyone has a sex, whether they acknowledge it or not, and that is all that is relevant in sports. If there were no differences between male and female performance then there would be no sex categories in sport, in fact it is only because of the need for a female category that the Non Binary category is being entertained! Nobody would contemplate sporting categories 'Humans with a sex' and 'Humans without a sex'.
If a group of similarly identifying runners wish to find community and feel more included, they can (and do) start a running club. A Non-binary club could offer club prizes to it's members in races of choice, as many clubs already do. Similarly trans identifying runners, scientologists and cheese lovers.
Agreed. Mara's issue, and many others', with non-binary is the overreach—conflating it with the relevant sex categories requires that race organizations and all other competitors buy into gender identity ideology.
Mara Yamauchi is a tireless advocate for female sports.
Myself, I don't have a problem with people registering as "nonbinary" to keep the "cheats" out of male and female sports. I'd replace "nonbinary" with "noncomforming" and require anyone who doesn't identify with their biological sex to register there.
And there's good reason for this, since trans-identified females (or nonbinary) might be on synthetic testosterone, and can't fairly compete as female, and shouldn't distort the sex-based stats for males either. So it makes sense to keep them separate.
So far in the Twin cities an average BIG event has 3 nonbinary entries per race, so clearly prizes there is senseless. It is a vanity class at best. But for inclusion I support "male awards" should be expanded to "All gender awards" and males, female, and nonconforming people can all compete there for overall top-3, or age division top-3 for instance. (Sometimes a female can beat all her male rivals, go Wanda Gau!)
I'm mainly talking about amateur level, but if there's enough "noncomforming" top-level runners at an event, they can have their own prizes, while we know in practice, if there's prizes, there's no clear way to stop fully functional males from competing there as "tier 2 males" for taking they money.
What is a "nonbinary" person? What is a "Trans-identified" person? Everything I've seen says it is "self-ID" and can't be questioned, so there's no standard but feelings, sincere or not. Maybe everyone with blue hair is also "noncomforming"?
Overall, I'd pass the torch to trans-gender organizations to get prizes for their runners if they like, and again, it's all good if "tier 2" straight cis-males with some good speed can call themselves trans or nonbinary for a day to get some easy cash. Let the fun begin!
As Mara pointed out, I don't agree with just having a garbage category just because race orgs are too spineless to enforce their rules. Slow males who are willing to grift to win, males or females who are doping, people who are demanding that others affirm their ideology. Nope. Anyone can show up as their authentic self and race--and every non-binary person knows what sex that authentic self is.
Typos, noncomforming --> Nonconforming, although we could have a comforting category, I suppose, but also no prizes there either unless they raise their own.
p.s. For race qualifiers, like Boston, I agree problem if easier standard than men' times, while if they set male standard (which is very hard) there will be even fewer entries who pass, or again "tier 2" males will certainly take any easier standards if allowed, not to win, but just to make the cut.