Episode 3
Biology Is Not Binary.
In this final episode of this series, Dr. Laci C. Robbins of Robbins’ Nest Consulting, Jessica Sunier, of FitPOWER LLC, and Torrie O’neil talk about biology and the fact that biology is not binary.
Jess introduces the alphabet and speaks from the perspective of being part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Jess and Torrie explain what pronouns they use to describe themselves, how they address others. They talk about the gym community and the notion of being a binary. Some of the athletes were eliminated from the Olympics because they had too high of a testosterone level. Should trans athletes compete with biological women? And it goes deeper than sport. Trans people, in general, are more likely to drop out of school. The lifespan of black trans women is very low. There is a lot of hate crime, sexual violence. How do we start to change it? Listen to this episode and be inspired.
Episode Highlights
09:00 – Some people are just truly unaware that it is a thing that is done and I try to bring more knowledge in, talk about the LGBT community, explain some basic stuff.
12:56 – We are not arguing that testosterone gives you certain advantageous characteristics. That’s pretty black and white; this is what testosterone does as a hormone in your body. We are arguing that any person at any given time can have a fluctuation of higher or lower testosterone. So, hormones themselves are an outdated way to divide people in sport.
20:13 – One of the things that often gets ignored when we’re having this conversation is how we’re having the conversation. Is it fair for trans athletes to compete purely on a biological level? That is one conversation, but that is not the conversation that we had. The conversation is about morality. It is about why would you let these people compete with biological women. And they hide behind the argument of fairness in female sports.
23:01 – Thinking of things outside of binary is difficult for some people. Because it is so easy to categorize people. Man/woman. Gay/straight. That is easy. When you start diving into that gray area and investigating maybe things are not as they seem, it makes people uncomfortable. And it is easier to be combative with the uncomfortable than dive deeper and make the changes.
44:02 – If you are looking to create these kinds of spaces, are you trying to center yourself and be the main guy? Or are you really trying to create a space for people?
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