Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stepped into the debate over trans rights on Wednesday, saying “biological males” should be banned from women’s sports, change rooms and bathrooms.

“Female spaces should be exclusively for females, not for biological males,” Poilievre said in Kitchener, Ont.

The Conservative leader made the comments after being asked if, as prime minister, he would introduce legislation to prevent “transgender women” or “biological men” from participating in female sports or entering female prisons and shelters.

“A lot of the spaces … are provincially and municipally controlled, so it is unclear … what reach federal legislation would have to change them,” Poilievre said.

“But obviously female sports, female change rooms, female bathrooms should be for females, not for biological males,” he added.

  •  Luci   ( @Luci@lemmy.ca ) 
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    627 months ago

    Fuck this guy. What fucking washroom do I fucking use then? The one where I pass as a woman and no one notices or cares that I’m trans, or the one where I get assaulted or harassed by a man.

    Guess I’ll just shit myself.

  • Honestly I think this is just a bad take. I didn’t see it on lemmy so I’m posting it (never done this before).

    For athletes and competitive sports, realistically that’s a discussion that you need nuance for.

    Blocking trans women (and not men for some reason) from change rooms and washrooms? Are there even cases where trans women are creating issues? Lesbians are perfectly capable of ogling women in those spaces anyway.

    •  nyan   ( @nyan@lemmy.cafe ) 
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      277 months ago

      Are there even cases where trans women are creating issues?

      Pretty sure that’s purely a right-wing boogeyman. And, let’s face it: a man who wants to spy on women in a washroom just needs a janitor’s coverall and some small cameras they can plant while “cleaning” or “performing repairs”.

      • And, let’s face it: a man who wants to spy on women in a washroom just needs a janitor’s coverall and some small cameras they can plant while “cleaning” or “performing repairs”.

        Or you know just walk in and hide in a stall.

  • Make a policy on any of the issues Trudeau is supposedly bungling <-> Murican’ style culture war

    Sweaty superhero meme.

    Yeah, I’m not sure why he’s doing this. I guess his general polls are looking really good so he’s focusing on his own caucus? Or maybe he just wants to distract from his own (deliberate, strategic) lack of vision, since I’ve increasingly seen it get media attention.

    • That’s the problem with Pollievre’s language.

      And even pre bottom surgery trans people are vulnerable.

      It feels like a given that trans people deserve to be able to use public washrooms and change rooms without fear, and I haven’t seen any actual evidence they cause any issues beyond offending some closed minded people.

      There are biological female spaces which it makes sense to exclude trans people from, they do have different experiences than cis women when it comes to growing up, periods, giving birth, etc. But bathrooms don’t seem like one them.

      • I remember that headline where the story is that a bunch of cis girls in a changeroom were perving on their underage swim teammate and staring at her penis. Like literally there were lines in the article that were like “I couldn’t stop staring at my teammate’s dick”. And then the headline on the article and the narrative framing is “trans girl makes teammates uncomfortable by using changeroom for its intended purpose. How dare she!”

  • Personally I think any sport which has rankings / championships should be separated by biological sex rather than gender.

    Allow anyone to join “XY” teams but only allow female-at-birth to join “XX” teams. Unless it’s a just-for-fun league then anyone can join.

    It does get complicated though with intersex and whatnot, but unfortunately life isn’t fair and some people draw the short straw. They can join the “XY” leagues if they are good enough.

    • Couple of things. Politicians have zero idea of what they’re talking about, especially one like Pollieve who’s looking to demonize trans women to rile up his base. Calling someone a “biological male” is just their fancy way of saying “man in a dress”. It’s their way of making it seem like they’re less transphobic than they actually are.

      Trans women and trans men are biologically no different from their cis counterparts. Trans women lose the muscle mass and strength they had when testosterone was their primary sex hormone. They perform no better or worse than cis women when it comes to sports. Trans women take on the same health risks as cis women; and the same can be said for trans men.

      Furthermore, chromosomes don’t work the way you’re suggesting here either. They act more like blueprints during development in the womb. There are also XY cis women with androgen insensitivities, as well as cis women who produce higher levels of testosterone.

      Long story short, you don’t need a degree in biology to understand the arguments being put forth by Pollieve and folks like him are absolute bunk. They’re intended to antagonize people against trans folks.

      •  Hathaway   ( @Hathaway@lemmy.zip ) 
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        7 months ago

        trans women and men are biologically no different than their cis counterparts.

        I want to start by saying I don’t have a horse in the race, I’m not a competing athlete (anymore) and honestly believe sports should be accessible to anyone but, I have seen “reports” (who knows how accurate) of trans women wiping the floor with cis women athletes. Like the D1 swimmer. Or, Natalie Ryan(who’s a disc golfer which is my niche). Are these largely outliers?

        I honestly don’t know enough about biology to know how the human body reacts to those treatments. If you’re correct, that’s awesome! While it’s more inconclusive(at least as far as I’m aware) if you’re outclassing your competitors, you should have to play with your skill level. In terms of disc golf, there’s FPO(female professional open) and MPO(mixed professional open). If you don’t really have competition at FPO, you should have to play MPO.

        Now, in my example, there are more layers because disc golf is a tiny sport, Natalie Ryan wins any small tournament she’s in, but when it comes to the big ones, she’s middle of the road. So, I’m not going to say she’s the prime example of “dominating a female field” and honestly, not sure there is one. So, you’re probably onto something.

  • This is the best summary I could come up with:


    Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre stepped into the debate over trans rights on Wednesday, saying “biological males” should be banned from women’s sports, change rooms and bathrooms.

    Last month, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith unveiled a slate of controversial legislative changes, expected to be tabled in the fall, that will significantly alter the province’s student gender identity, sports and surgery policies.

    When questioned about Smith’s changes in the foyer of the House of Commons, Poilievre said the decision to pursue transgender treatments should be reserved for adults alone.

    New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs’s changes to Policy 713 require school staff to get the consent of parents before letting LGBTQ students under age 16 use the names and pronouns they choose in classrooms.

    Last fall, 69 per cent of delegates to the Conservative Party’s policy convention voted in favour of a motion that said those under the age of 18 should be prohibited from accessing “life-altering medicinal or surgical interventions” to treat “gender confusion and dysphoria.”

    “I think Mr. Poilievre and politicians like him are choosing to attack some of the most vulnerable people in our society as a way of deflecting from the fact that they are very good at creating division and anger,” Trudeau said Wednesday.


    The original article contains 708 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

  • Why are we still talking about this? Who cares? Let people use whatever washrooms they want, is it even an issue? it’s completely fabricated by the right at this point and im tired of it.