this post was submitted on 21 Aug 2025
122 points (94.9% liked)

No Stupid Questions

43006 readers
518 users here now

No such thing. Ask away!

!nostupidquestions is a community dedicated to being helpful and answering each others' questions on various topics.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules (interactive)


Rule 1- All posts must be legitimate questions. All post titles must include a question.

All posts must be legitimate questions, and all post titles must include a question. Questions that are joke or trolling questions, memes, song lyrics as title, etc. are not allowed here. See Rule 6 for all exceptions.



Rule 2- Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material.

Your question subject cannot be illegal or NSFW material. You will be warned first, banned second.



Rule 3- Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here.

Do not seek mental, medical and professional help here. Breaking this rule will not get you or your post removed, but it will put you at risk, and possibly in danger.



Rule 4- No self promotion or upvote-farming of any kind.

That's it.



Rule 5- No baiting or sealioning or promoting an agenda.

Questions which, instead of being of an innocuous nature, are specifically intended (based on reports and in the opinion of our crack moderation team) to bait users into ideological wars on charged political topics will be removed and the authors warned - or banned - depending on severity.



Rule 6- Regarding META posts and joke questions.

Provided it is about the community itself, you may post non-question posts using the [META] tag on your post title.

On fridays, you are allowed to post meme and troll questions, on the condition that it's in text format only, and conforms with our other rules. These posts MUST include the [NSQ Friday] tag in their title.

If you post a serious question on friday and are looking only for legitimate answers, then please include the [Serious] tag on your post. Irrelevant replies will then be removed by moderators.



Rule 7- You can't intentionally annoy, mock, or harass other members.

If you intentionally annoy, mock, harass, or discriminate against any individual member, you will be removed.

Likewise, if you are a member, sympathiser or a resemblant of a movement that is known to largely hate, mock, discriminate against, and/or want to take lives of a group of people, and you were provably vocal about your hate, then you will be banned on sight.



Rule 8- All comments should try to stay relevant to their parent content.



Rule 9- Reposts from other platforms are not allowed.

Let everyone have their own content.



Rule 10- Majority of bots aren't allowed to participate here. This includes using AI responses and summaries.



Credits

Our breathtaking icon was bestowed upon us by @Cevilia!

The greatest banner of all time: by @TheOneWithTheHair!

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

It’s almost time to delete my account so I am sticking my neck out to potentially getting blasted.

I will preface by stating that gender identity is not an issue for me. Be who you want, use whatever bathroom you want. Just wash your hands/paws/tentacles.

My ignorant question is: for transgender athletes in competitive sports, should records be categorized differently or asterisked? Isn’t it kind of like using performance-enhancing drugs?

I don’t mind about actually competing, however if someone had 5-10 years of hormonal growth advantage during puberty, even if they no longer have that advantage, it seems like a big gray area. Yes, someone could naturally have that chemical makeup. Similarly, some exceptionally elite athletes have genetic variations that give them natural physical advantage.

When I was in school I was decent at swimming, in the top 5% of men. If I competed against women I would be like top 0.01% and making a career out of it. Though, if I started setting records I don’t know how I’d feel about it, given my advantage.

Honestly, writing these thoughts down is giving me some existential dread. What does it mean to be human, and why? Does anything even really matter?

I hope everyone has a nice day and is kind to each other.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Nougat@fedia.io 51 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's not even a real issue. The number of trans athletes is extremely small, and none of them are out there setting crazy records.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_sports

[–] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)

The fact that the University of Pennsylvania swimmer [Lia Thomas] soared from a mid-500s ranking (554th in the 200 freestyle; all divisions) in men’s competition to one of the top-ranked swimmers in women’s competition tells the story

In the 100 freestyle, Thomas’ best time prior to her transition was 47.15. At the NCAA Championships, she posted a prelims time in the event of 47.37. That time reflects minimal mitigation of her male-puberty advantage.

During the last season Thomas competed as a member of the Penn men’s team, which was 2018-19, she ranked 554th in the 200 freestyle, 65th in the 500 freestyle and 32nd in the 1650 freestyle. As her career at Penn wrapped, she moved to fifth, first and eighth in those respective events on the women’s deck.

It may not be an issue to you, but it's an issue to every woman whose ranking is lower as a result. I imagine it especially hurts if you're pushed out of first place in that way.

[–] EponymousBosh@awful.systems 9 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Wow, the 200m freestyle, the 500m freestyle, and the 1650m freestyle, huh? Did she ever compete in anything else, or were those numbers perhaps cherry-picked to make the situation look more dramatic than it actually is? Because if you look at her results holistically, she's a very good swimmer, but she's clearly not dominating 100% of the time the way she's been portrayed.

At the NCAA competition where Thomas won one (1) race that conservatives cried and shit their pants over, a cis woman named Kate Douglass set 18 new records. Lia Thomas set zero new records. And crunching the rest of the numbers bears this out: she was a good swimmer before and after transition, but she's not some unbeatable powerhouse that cis women have no chance at winning against.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 10 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

It should also be noted that a college athlete's times and rankings would presumably improve every year. Freshmen competing against seniors are just less likely to win (in most sports at least). IIRC I saw an analysis of her rankings that indicated the jump was within normal bounds for year-over-year improvement.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

No one goes from 500th to 1st year over year competing against the same people lol.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

She swam for the men's team 2019-2020 while undergoing hormone therapy. Then there was a year break because of COVID. Then she swam for the women's team 2021-2022. The difference was over two years.

EDIT: Actually, the 500th place stat was from 2018-2019, so it was over three years.

EDIT 2: Also, she went from 554th to 5th. The other two are basically not even worth mentioning since she went from 65th to 1st and 32nd to 8th over three years.

EDIT 3: Also, regarding your "the same people" bit, a large chunk of the people she'd have competed against would have graduated and been replaced by underclassmen. This is how college works.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au -2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

Incorrect.

Before transitioning, Thomas was nationally ranked #462 in the NCAA men’s official swimming competitions. After transitioning, Thomas jumped to #1 in the NCAA women’s category.

Lia Thomas jumped up from around 500 in mens to 1 in womens while having slower times than when ranked ~500 in the mens. That says all that needs to be said.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 4 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

The numbers you are using I've only seen from that letter made by people complaining about her, frequently posted everywhere by conservative sources. Also, it's fucking obvious she'd have slower times. That is the entire purpose of requiring trans atheletes to be on hormones for a couple years.

EDIT: I've looked into the 462 number more, and I'm further convinced it's either made up or not an official ranking (i.e. from some practice run). Also, if you're gonna pull some random quote, give your source. One of the very first results when I search "lia thomas 462" is the Daily Wire, which does not inspire much confidence in your sources. The other results are a Wikipedia quote from the letter I mentioned, and a random comment on the site for a swimming magazine.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

You missed the point about the slower times. The point was that the times of a ~500 ranked male are faster than the times of the number 1 ranked female. You don’t see how this is a problem with trans men competing against women?

Thomas’ times only decreased by roughly 2-3% after transition. Male swimmers are on average 10-15% faster than women’s. This shows that male physical advantage doesn’t just disappear, as should be obvious simply by looking at the physical differences between males and females.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's obvious you don't actually have a researched opinion since you just used the wrong term for a trans woman (they said trans men, in case they edit it).

You seem to, once again, be ignoring that on top of the decrease from transitioning, they are still a human being, and thus age and practice like any other human being. From sophomore year to their redshirt senior year, they grew, trained, etc. like any athlete. Expecting them to just drop 15% or whatever from their sophomore time and never improve from that is completely idiotic.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

It’s obvious you don’t actually have a researched opinion since you just used the wrong term for a trans woman (they said trans men, in case they edit it).

Where?

edit: oh I see, you think that because I said this:

You don’t see how this is a problem with trans men competing against women?

It invalidates my entire opinion? Replace "men" with "women" since it's clear what I'm talking about, as I have used the term trans women to refer to MtF trans people many, many times in these comments. Come on mate, grow up.

You seem to, once again, be ignoring that on top of the decrease from transitioning, they are still a human being, and thus age and practice like any other human being. From sophomore year to their redshirt senior year, they grew, trained, etc. like any athlete. Expecting them to just drop 15% or whatever from their sophomore time and never improve from that is completely idiotic.

I didn't ignore any of that lol. You're missing the point. Again - 500th ranked male time is faster than all female times. Post "transition", still faster than all females. Went from a "bad" mens swimmer to the best womens swimmer while swimming basically the same times as pre-transition. There's nothing to say that even if Lia didn't "transition" that he would have improved his times.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Where?

I literally wrote in the parenthetical which term you used. Are you blind?

Went from a "bad" mens swimmer to the best womens swimmer while swimming basically the same times as pre-transition. There's nothing to say that even if Lia didn't "transition" that he would have improved his times.

I think I'm done. You're just repeating conservative talking points without actually thinking about what you're writing. Lia Thomas was never a bad swimmer. As mentioned, the improvement in her rankings was within normal bounds for three years. You've also curiously avoided noticing how the other rankings were below 1st despite her starting at a higher ranking in men's competitions. Likewise, none of her times have ever blown away the competition. She didn't set records. The 1st place finish isn't even in the top 50 all-time for NCAA.

I feel like I'm talking with my relatives who voted for Trump. Given that you don't even have the decency to use the correct pronouns, kindly go fuck yourself conservacuck.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Lia Thomas was never a bad swimmer.

Compared to other competitive swimmers, yes, he was. 500th ranked in just the USA college system means you're never getting anywhere close to being a professional swimmer competing at world championships or the olympics. Never. Not even close.

She didn’t set records.

Incorrect.

Given that you don’t even have the decency to use the correct pronouns, kindly go fuck yourself conservacuck.

Grow up.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Compared to other competitive swimmers, yes, he was. 500th ranked in just the USA college system means you're never getting anywhere close to being a professional swimmer competing at world championships or the olympics. Never. Not even close.

You really love ignoring everything other than the 500 free.

Since you brought up the Olympics, I wonder how many of her competitors (other than obviously Douglass) actually made it.

Incorrect.

Unless you're talking about pretty much worthless pool records, I am indeed correct. Since you love calling me incorrect, how about you actually provide some numbers other than an unsubstantiated ranking from a letter written by someone supposedly om behalf of anomymous teammates. She did not set NCAA records, USA records, etc., unlike someone else she competed against.

Grow up.

Right back at you, ma'am.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

My favourite part about this is how you think I’ll care about you intentionally “misgendering” me 🤣

You’re incorrect, just like you are about everything else.

https://apnews.com/article/upenn-lia-thomas-swimmer-transgender-athletes-trump-71720ecbeb8493ddbed539dd61995076

Funny that the university itself says that Thomas set records, yet you know that “she” didn’t? Very strange that. Have you told them that they’re wrong?

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just doing my part to provide as little empathy to you as you provide to others.

[–] FreedomAdvocate@lemmy.net.au 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Just no empathy for women, only for men.

[–] arcterus@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago

Mm, sounds about what I'd expect of you.

[–] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

were those numbers perhaps cherry-picked to make the situation look more dramatic than it actually is?

If anyone can go from 554th to 5th in any sport/event just by competing among the other sex, nothing else changing, then that obviously indicates something. You can't handwave that away.

Her personal 100m freestyle time dropping less than a quarter of a second post-transition is honestly a bigger indicator that transition is not making a substantial difference, because that angle completely removes the 'chance' element in your opponents being different people.

[–] Walk_blesseD@piefed.blahaj.zone -3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It may not be an issue to you, but it's an issue to every woman whose ranking is lower as a result.

Really? "Every"? You asked every single one of them, did you? Or are you just talking out your arse on the behalf of hundreds of people you don't even know?

[–] damnedfurry@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago (2 children)

The very fact that their ranking is lower than what it should be is an issue in and of itself, your disingenuous mockery notwithstanding.

[–] Walk_blesseD@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 8 months ago

But they're placed exactly where they should be? If they should be placed higher, that's where they'd be… seems like you're the one getting mad over a skill issue on other people's behalf tbh. It's weird.

You're acting as though Lia Thomas didn't have every right to compete as she did, despite fulfilling all the eligibility criteria that were in place at the time, so your argument at this stage seems equally applicable to all the cis women who outperformed her, too, but you're not whining for the benefit of all the poor womanses that were denied the opportunity to place higher than they did by them, are you?

[–] Ceedoestrees@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

Former competitive swimmer here. I'm fine with it.