Jack Turban tells girls to shut up and deal with it

In Scientific American of all places. I know they have precedent, thanks to that crappy article the zealots used to point to, but there oughta be a limit. Jack Turban of all people – and the title Trans Girls Belong on Girls’ Sports Teams. Yeah sure: boys belong on girls’ sports teams, SciAm says so.

You may be wondering what this is doing in a science magazine, but the subtitle explains all:

There is no scientific case for excluding them

That’s sneaky, of course, because it’s not a purely scientific issue in the first place. It’s not science that says grown men shouldn’t punch babies in the face. There are some relevant facts though, which can be disputed or backed up or rejected via evidence, some of which we know via scientific research. Summary version: males have physical advantages compared to females. For more see a biology textbook. The second step isn’t science, it’s a should: males shouldn’t exploit that advantage; fair sport shouldn’t allow (let alone encourage) males to do that.

So what does Jack Turban say?

There is no epidemic of transgender girls dominating female sports. 

What if there were? If it’s a problem when there’s an epidemic of it why would it be ok when only a few do it?

Attempts to force transgender girls to play on the boys’ teams are unconscionable attacks on already marginalized transgender children

blows whistle Manipulative wording cheat! Red card! Nobody is forcing boys who claim to be girls to do anything. but people who give a shit about fairness want to stop boys invading girls’ sports.

As a child psychiatry fellow, I spend a lot of time with kids. They have many worries on their minds: bullying, sexual assault, divorcing parents, concerns they won’t get into college. What they’re not worried about is transgender girls playing on girls’ sports teams.

Unless of course they are girls on such teams, but we’ll just pretend they don’t exist.

It’s pathetic that SciAm published this male-centric special pleading nonsense.

11 Responses to “Jack Turban tells girls to shut up and deal with it”