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Cathy Devine Profile picture
Cathy Devine
@cathydevine56
Independent Research & Consultancy: Sport Policy. Feminist Philosophy. Ex. Senior Lecturer, Uni. of Cumbria. Ex. Sec. British Phil. of Sport Assn. Labour Party.
3 subscribers
Nov 1 • 22 tweets • 5 min read
Becky's had a look at the UN Report on Violence against Women & Girls in Sport.
Based on submissions from around the globe.
She doesn't like it.
She's into women's footy.
You'd think she'd welcome it.
But she's a fan of including transwomen in female sport.
Let's take a look. 1/ Becky doesn't like women collecting data about the numbers of girls and women who have lost positions, places, podiums, prize money to transwomen. So she has a go at the work they are doing to fill the vacuum left by journalists & academics who are missing in action. 2/
Oct 25 • 28 tweets • 7 min read
Let's critique.
Lots of good stuff but I will unpack this claim:
'blanket prohibitions ... of all female transgender persons, and intrusive practices for women athletes with sex variations, are against current standards of human rights'. 1/
documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/… x.com/UN_SPExperts/s… 1. There are no blanket prohibitions of female transgender persons in international sport.
All trans persons are entitled to compete in their sex categories.
Females with trans IDs (if not supplementing with testosterone, in female sport) males with trans IDs in male sport. 2/
Oct 24 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
This event will 'highlight the importance of diversity & inclusion in sport for LGBTI persons, in particular the inclusion of trans, gender-diverse, and intersex individuals.'
Fine.
But there is no human right for males to play/compete in female sport. 1/
ilga.org/news/u-lgbti-c… There should ofc be a diversity of female people in female sport: black & brown females, young & old females, rich & poor females, females from the global south as well as the global north, lesbian & straight females, females with disabilities as well as able bodied females. 2/
Oct 5 • 23 tweets • 5 min read
To be crystal clear.
There is no human right for males to play in female sport.
This is an asymmetric rights claim benefitting males with trans identities & athletes with disorders of male sexual development.
Female people have human rights too. 1/
gate.ngo/knowledge-port… 'Equal inclusion of all in sports continues to be undermined by the rise of movements that oppose the universality of human rights'.
No.
We support universality of human rights.
This must, & does, include recognition of female people with female bodies & their human rights. 2/
Sep 12 • 24 tweets • 5 min read
Thank you @BBCWomansHour & @SarahOwen_ welcome to this position.
As @UKLabour member & feminist academic who researches sex, gender identity & sport, pls ensure it is crystal clear that EA S195 Sport, means males with trans IDs can be excluded from female sport at all levels. 1/ The reason we are still at the stage of asking 'what is a woman' is that there are 3 answers:
1. An adult human female
2. An adult human female plus some adult human males who have changed legal sex
3. Anyone who identifies as a woman
This is why the EA needs clarification. 2/
Aug 7 • 11 tweets • 2 min read
This is what 'policing women's bodies' looks like.
Sex is determined at conception. Not by conforming to sex stereotypes.
Female athletes are female regardless of how they look.
Athletes with disorders of male sexual development are male.
Regardless of what their passport says. Image Those supporting no sex screening for female sport are not arguing against 'policing women's bodies' they are arguing against policing male bodies in order to exclude male bodies from female sport.
Aug 5 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Great interview.
'The IOC seems to have been hijacked by activists.'
'We need to be taking a closer look at who's advising them.'
I do that here in my chapter 'Sex, Gender Identity & Sport'. 1/
Image I explain the @iocmedia has 'contracted out responsibility for human rights to unaccountable neoliberal global organisations heavily funded by global capital.' 2/
Aug 2 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Despite asking 'can we just be really clear on this' this article is utter nonsense.
'Lin is also not male, as far as anyone knows'.
Well given that Lin probably has a disorder of male sexual development, Lin is very likely to be a biological male. 1/ theguardian.com/sport/article/… So where has Barney Ronay been? Has he read the IBA Statements which confirm that following two 'gender' (sex) tests Lin 'did not meet the required eligibility criteria to compete within the female category of our respective events.' 2/
Jul 6 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Congratulations on your new role overseeing sport. As a @UKLabour member & sports academic please uphold girls & women's right to single sex sport. The female category is the inclusion measure for females. Without it, male advantage relegates females to second place. 1/ Our female sports participants & our elite female athletes need reassurance that you will ensure the adoption of Section 195 of the Equality Act permitting single sex sport & activities of a competitive nature. Not to do so is indirect sex discrimination. 2/
Jun 22 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
'JK Rowling said she would struggle to support the party because of its stance on transgender rights.'
No she didn't.
She said:
'Labour remains dismissive and often offensive of women’s concerns about sex-based rights'.
Womens rights.
Not trans rights.
theguardian.com/books/article/… This telling sleight of hand from 'womens rights' to 'trans rights' is indicative of the hierarchy of rights for @guardian & 'leave you views at the door' @BBCNews.
Couldn't be clearer whose rights matter more 2 these outlets.
Let's not let the truth get in the way of the spin.
Jun 19 • 15 tweets • 3 min read
Labour's Wes Streeting:
'We will not allow anything in conversion therapy legislation that stops medical professionals delivering the holistic care that Dr Cass rightly says we need.' 1/
Great interview @roseveniceallan
via @YouTube 'Hilary Cass's Review shows...we need more open conversations, especially with young people...presenting to their GP or to medical services... [with] questions...about their identity...they get the holistic care that enables those exploratory open-minded conversations'. 2/
Jun 13 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
Labour Party Manifesto Highlights: sex and gender.
'We will work to implement the expert recommendations of the Cass Review to ensure that young people presenting to the NHS with gender dysphoria are receiving appropriate and high-quality care'.
Excellent. 1/ 'Labour is proud of our Equality Act and the rights and protections it affords women; we will continue to support the implementation of its single-sex exceptions.'
Excellent. 2/
Jun 7 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
The IOC 'Portrayal Guidelines' released ahead of the Paris Olympics are breathtakingly sexist, & complete propaganda.
According to @iocmedia:
'TERMS TO AVOID: “born male”, “born female”, “biologically male”,
“biologically female”, “genetically male”, “genetically female”'. 1/ As we all know, the IOC is primarily banning the language needed to accurately & factually describe males who identify as transgender. These athletes are born male, are biologically & genetically male & are permitted by the IOC to compete in female categories. 2/
Mar 28 • 16 tweets • 4 min read
How some male climbers want female climbing too.
'Fiore (male who identifies as trans) says it was important to separate the issue at hand—a policy that harms trans people—from transphobic hand-wringing around “fairness” in sports.'
FFS. Where to begin? 1/
@USAClimbing I get it. Males who want to climb in female categories need us to ignore the gross unfairness.
But if males always get what they want, at the expense of females, we call that patriarchy. Sex discrimination.
I've done a fair bit of climbing. This is personal. 2/
Feb 14 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Oh dear @jonathanliew (I'm blocked) strikes again in a frankly dishonest & bonkers @guardian piece.
Once again, the right can only make capital out of females wanting female categories at @parkrun when the liberal/left reveal themselves as totally unreconstructed sexists. 1/ Image Let's see. According to JL, even though I'm a left wing feminist academic whose expertise is women & sport, I'm:
1. A rightwinger
2. Restricting the access of trans people to sport
3. Illogical & absurd
4. The radical trans-exclusionary police 2/
Nov 29, 2023 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Let's explore.
National Curriculum for PE Aims: 
1 develop competence to excel in broad range of physical activities 
2 physically active for sustained periods of time 
3 engage in competitive sports & activities
4 lead healthy active lives
This must work for girls. 1/ Key Stage 2 (age 7-11) includes
competitive games, modified where appropriate [for example, badminton basketball cricket football hockey netball rounders and tennis] and apply basic principles suitable for attacking and defending
Girls start dropping out of sport from age 8. 2/
Nov 7, 2023 • 30 tweets • 6 min read
Interesting piece.
Despite BBC constraints @Emmabarnett does a good job.
Let's critique.
To be clear. The reason Semenya is 'one of the most decorated athletes of her generation' is that CS has a disorder of male sexual development & is biologically male but legally female. 1/ So CS has taken male advantage into female categories designed to exclude it. This is why CS is also 'one of the most scrutinised'. The whole purpose of the female category is to provide equal competitive opportunities for female athletes by excluding male advantage. 2/
Nov 3, 2023 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
Female athletes support routine once-in-a-career sex testing ( cheek swab) and this is one of the reasons why. Without it athletes who may be 'relevant athletes' are singled out for further investigation. With it this could be avoided. 1/
theguardian.com/sport/2023/oct… Evidence from the Atlanta Olympic Games details that 82% of 928 female athletes who responded to a questionnaire thought that sex testing should be continued. They were ignored, as female athletes often are, and sex testing was discontinued. 2/ Image
Nov 1, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
Here we go again.
'Semenya has differences of sexual development (DSD), which means that she has internal testes and produces testosterone at typically male levels.'
Almost but not quite.
Semenya has a disorder of male sexual development. 1/ thetimes.co.uk/article/fa6b0e… 'In 2019 the IAAF argued at the Court of Arbitration for Sport that Semenya was a biological male, with XY chromosomes rather than the usual female XX. In short, she benefited from male biological development.'
This is the reality. Semenya is biologically ♂️ & legally ♀️. 2/
Nov 1, 2023 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
So on his last day as UN SOGI Independent Expert @victor_madrigal & others attempt to force States to force sports to allow males who identify as trans to play in female sport.
Your regular reminder: permitting males to compete in female sport categories is not a human right. 1/ For more on the policy capture of @ioc by self-appointed so-called international human rights organisations & human rights experts who over-reach their brief to lobby for removing the human rights of female athletes to equal opportunities see my chapter 2/
Sep 11, 2023 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
Fully support.
The @iocmedia must uphold 'internationally recognised human rights'.
Including the fundamental rights of females to equality with males. Explicitly enshrined in all UN HR treaties.
The 2021 Framework permitting males to compete in female sport must be withdrawn 1/ The 2021 IOC Framework whilst purporting to centre inclusion, human rights, fairness, robust evidence & athlete consultation outlines there should be ‘no presumption of advantage’ in female categories for males with transgender identities ‘until evidence determines otherwise’. 2/