Trump is the most transphobic U.S. President of all time, singling trans people out for a military ban and a general repeal of their rights to receive healthcare and pee in public. So it shouldn’t really surprise us at all that his son, Trump Jr., has a few ignorant views on trans people too.
Outsports points out that Don Jr. tweeted a story from The Daily Caller—a right-wing website founded by racist, bow-tie-enthusiast Tucker Carlson—about Cece Telfer, top-ranked NCAA trans female athlete. The Daily Caller‘s headline announced, “Biological Male Is Top-Ranked NCAA Women’s Track Star.” But that’s a deliberate over-simplification meant to enrage its readers.
Trump Jr.’s tweet in response to the article said, “Yet another grave injustice to so many young women who trained their entire lives to achieve excellence. Identify however you want, to each his own, but this is too far and unfair to so many.”
Yet another grave injustice to so many young women who trained their entire lives to achieve excellence. Identify however you want, to each his own, but this is too far and unfair to so many.
Biological Male Is Top-Ranked NCAA Women’s Track Star. https://t.co/4YqNcVLMSF
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 26, 2019
Whether knowingly or not, Trump Jr. is perpetuating trash about what it means to be a trans female athlete and furthering an argument perpetuated by transphobic trans-exclusionary radical feminists (TERFs) that trans women are unfairly invading women’s-only spaces.
In fact, a lesbian TERF went on Tucker Carlson’s FOX News show earlier this month to argue that the LGBT community should “drop the T” because trans identity has nothing to do with sexuality — but she’s wrong.
Defying “traditional” expectations of gender is precisely what unites the LGBTQ community: Neither LGB nor trans people act like men and women “are supposed to act.” We all express our sexuality and gender in ways that fly in the face of hetero- and cis-supremacy. But we digress…
While the sports world continues to explore integrating trans female athletes alongside cis women, Don Jr. and The Daily Caller are basically flattening a complex issue into a single matter: They say trans women have a physical advantage over cis women because they were assigned a male gender at birth. But it’s not that simple.
Gender identity for both trans and cis people depends on a bunch of complex biological, anatomical and chromosomal variations: All women have variations in musculature, hormone levels and biological anatomy. Some cis women have more muscle mass and testosterone than trans women. Thus, being trans alone doesn’t make one more athletically capable than cis women.
Related: Why we love trans triathlete Chris Mosier, athlete for visibility
The International Olympic Committee and other sporting organizations are figuring out their policies on trans athletes as more and more come out of the closet.
So it makes sense why Trump Jr. thinks the way he does, and he’s not alone. Lesbian tennis legend Martina Navratilova is against trans women competing in female athletics too — and now her viewpoint is being used to push anti-trans legislation in U.S.
But it’s a nuanced issue that isn’t as simple as Trump Jr., Navratilova, The Daily Caller or TERFs would like to think, and the answer isn’t banning all trans women from female sports either.
As we continue to learn more about sports and gender, flattening the issue into a simple soundbite merely increases antipathy towards trans athletes, and they already face incredible hurdles just to make it onto the field.
MikeE
No, being trans is not about sexuality, it’s about gender.
You can’t confuse sexuality and gender willy-nilly, when it pleases you or fulfills your own agenda. one week being trans is not sexuality, it’s about gender. The next (as in this article) it’s about sexuality.
When you are born into a male body but know deep inside you that you are a woman, or born into a woman’s body and know deep inside that you are a man, THAT is transsexuality. It is about not having the physical gender that you know yourself to be.
Being gay is about sexuality. It is about whom you are attracted to physically and sexually.
There are gay and lesbian trans people.. but they aren’t gay or lesbian BECAUSE they are trans. They happen to be trans, the same way someone happens to be blonde. More often than not, trans people identify sexually with the gender they identify with, making them straight, not gay.
And enough with the BS about sexual fluidity and not fitting into social norms. Some LGBT people are like that, but the vast majority aren’t. They simply live their own lives, like the ordinary, boring people that they are.
QueerTruth
The article was about Trump Jr not ok with a trans athlete being at the top of her game since some people feel she has advantages since she was born a male with a male body.
I can’t stand Trump and his message is ignorant and gross.
But aside from that. In competitive sports- this is a serious question. I don’t have answers but sooner or later this will need to be dealt with.
startenout
So you’re being willfully obtuse? Because the article says nothing about transgender being about sexuality. It DOES refer to a lesbian TERF being wrong about the LGBTQ+ community being just about sexuality and thus needing to exclude the T, but that requires a higher lexile score to grasp.
Greg
Trump and his son are probably like those “straight” guys who are interested in trans girls with something extra.
startenout
Nothing would surprise me about this family
Greg
Chinless wonder.
OzJosh
I’m not sure how you justify the notion that “Trump is the most transphobic President of all time”, since (with the possible exceptions of Obama and Clinton) previous presidents’ attitudes to trans people is not exactly well documented. For all we know, the sainted JFK might have been virulently anti-trans, had anybody ever thought to ask him. Also, allowing for the fact that Trump has been known to have multiple positions on just about any topic, he’s just as likely to be more pro-trans than any of the past presidents who most likely had little or no experience and even less understanding of “trans”. If you could bring Abe or George back to life and introduce them to Caitlyn Jenner they’d probably be horrified.
startenout
Would you be happier if they called him the most outspokenly transphobic “president” of all time? Are you just seeking accuracy or trying to deflect the conversation? Either way he is an abomination.
Let’s also dig up some graves and use DNA to make sure that Obama was the first black President and not just the first black identifying President! I’m looking at you Grover Cleveland!
Sheesh!
Heywood Jablowme
@OzJosh: Yes, you make a good point. “Most transphobic President of all time,” well, that’s hard to say when probably no president before Eisenhower ever even heard of such a thing (Christine Jorgensen made a lot of news in 1953).
“Not exactly well documented,” yes, that’s true, if any of the presidents between the ’50s and ’90s made any comment whatsoever about trans people, we’d probably know about it by now. Even Nixon, who had an opinion (usually negative) about practically everything, apparently never said anything “documented” about this subject.
Transgender people have existed throughout history, of course, but it’s safe to say that the vast majority of people never heard of them or had any attitude about them (pro or con) until very recently.
justinelech
Hey can anyone help me to stop getting desktop notifications for this site? I don’t know how it happened but this is a shared computer and I don’t want my 8 year old clicking on the articles by mistake. Don’t worry, I’ll still continue to read! Thanks everyone!
SnakeyJ
I agree. I don’t like trans or “queers” or anything else being attached to LGB. Especially now with gender fluid nonsense. Where does it stop?
startenout
When you leave
MuslimSlutBox
In Connecticut, young men are competing as women and walking away with all the trophy’s and, perhaps more important, the sports scholarships. Women are freaking out about it and demanding reform. IDK what’s fair, but it appears to me that social justice advocates are demanding open participation protocols in all sports and then, when the protocols are enacted, they’re screaming that it’s unfair. Looks like you cannot have it both ways girls, I mean, um, gentlemen. Whatever.
Morrisson
From a physiological point of view trans woman competing against woman do have physical and physiological advantages over woman. Stating fact is not trans-phobic, so here goes:
Testosterone levels directly impact power and speed, The average male has an average testosterone level of 24 nanomoles per litre, the average female 2.3 NMOL/L. The IOC allows trans females to compete if they maintain testosterone levels at 10 NMOL/L. That means they have at least 3 times the level of testosterone in their bodies as females.
Trans athletes maintain increased levels of myonuclei, which greatly aid training. Muscle mass and muscle memory stay the same after transition. Case in point just look at Laurel Hubbard the New Zealand power lifter and tell me she didn’t have a distinct physical advantage due to being born a male.
Yooper
The man is a cretin, for sure, though he’s not off the mark on this subject.
justyouandi
WTF, you guys!
Anything short of celebrating differences and waving a flag is hate and -phobic?
He’s got a point!
Get real!
truthseeker
Donald Trump Jr. and Martina Navratilova are not wrong. Males and females have vast physical differences. To say that men and women are the same is lying to yourself. To even say that “some biological women have more muscle mass”, therefore we should let MtF athletes in female only sports is lying to yourself too.
Sure, there is a tiny percentage of biological women who may be genetically disposed to having more muscle mass than some low testosterone men but it’s such a rarity. Biological men are physically stronger than women.
Transgender women (MtF) have an unfair advantage over these women that’s why you’re seeing numerous instances now of these people beating women in athletics. It would be like an adult being allowed to play in the little leagues
mr guy
“T E R F” is a misogynist slur. This article is extremist trans ideology propaganda. Trump is beside the point. There is a rightwing critique of transgender BUT an entirely different one on the left that critiques gender identity ideology and lesglisation from feminists, le sbians, liberals, Marxists, and plenty of transsexuals (whose voices are silenced too) etc..and andyone who cares about actual scientist and not sophistry and woo.
#IStandWithMartina
JessPH
As much as I despise the son of Orange Turd, he is actually right. The male body continue to have strength advantages even if testosterone levels are brought down. Scientific facts do not care about anyone’s feelings. Also, TERF is nothing but a misogynistic slur trans radicals are using to demonize their critics, regardless of how right they are. Shame on you, Queerty, for engaging in slurs.
Invader7
He got turned down by numerous transgender people .Cause NO real straight woman will have him.And that overly toothy chipmunk Kim Guilfoyle does NOT count. She’s another Faux News creature…Why is Junior getting his pink panties in a twist?
Polaro
I hate it but I have to agree with Trump. I think I just threw up in my mouth.
Invader7
Donald McDuckLips ,Jr. looks like and per his vacuous comments /statements is a dumb ass. To quote his father: ” he doesn’t have the best judgement in the world” or something like that. So suck Donny,Jr. I bet he’s in chicks with dicks!! And is the bottom !!!