Five Men Claim To Be Transgender Women In Order To Compete In Boston Marathon As Females
Spencer Hardison
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Some 50 years ago, a Boston Marathon official attempted to drag a woman off the marathon’s course after she attempted to enter the 1967 men’s-only race.
Photogrpahers caught the moment in now infamous phots that some claim are a landmark moment in the fight for women’s equality in sports.
Today, however, the marathon’s position on gender has completely changed.
When runners take to the streets of Boston next Monday to run the annual marathon, competitors will be allowed to register and race using the gender they identify with, according to a report from ABC News.
“We take people at their word. We register people as they specify themselves to be,” Chief of the Boston Athletic Association, Tom Grilk, said. “Members of the LGBT community have had a lot to deal with over the years, and we’d rather not add to that burden.”
The Boston Marathon’s new position on gender has caused as many as five biological males to register as transgender females in order to compete in this year’s race as females.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look as though Boston will be alone in making such a radical move.
ABC News also noted that several other cities – like Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and London – are close to following Boston’s lead.
“We want to be inclusive and sensitive to all of our participants,” Chicago Marathon executive race director Carey Pinkowski told ABC News. “At this point, we don’t feel that we need to require legal or medical records or anything along those lines.”
Of course, while ABC and many other mainstream media outlets have taken the opportunity celebrate the Boston Marathon’s shift in gender policy as a monumental victory for transgender rights, that hasn’t stopped the same media from continuing to attack the marathon’s policy requiring participants to present a photo ID.
According to ABC News, the marathon’s policy still requires competitors to present a photo ID verifying their name and gender, a policy transgender advocates deem “unfair.”
Apparently, this is oppression of the worst form, because it deals with those transgender individuals who haven’t felt their gender identity is important enough to have their personal information legally changed.
What a travesty.
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