The BBC shows how low it has sunk by reporting on a bloke playing women’s sports as if there’s nothing wrong with it.
Kelly Morgan is a trailblazer.
Born Nicholas Gareth Morgan, she played representative rugby for east Wales as a teenager.
Injury ended that initial involvement with the sport but, after a decade wrestling with gender identity and transitioning to female, Kelly is back playing – and loving it.
Having impressed in friendly fixtures for Porth Harlequins Ladies, she now hopes to compete in the Welsh women’s leagues from September.
[…]Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) guidelines – which are “fully committed to the principles of equality” – state Kelly can play providing her blood-measured testosterone levels are within a certain range.
This totally ignores the fact that testosterone is one of the many factors that give men a physical advantage over women.
AND SHE HAS TAKEN A DAILY DOSE OF THE FEMALE HORMONE OESTROGEN FOR THE PAST 18 MONTHS.
[…] AT NEARLY 6FT SHE STANDS OUT AMONG HER TEAM-MATES, AND CLUB CAPTAIN JESSICA MINTY-MADLEY RECOUNTS A TIME SHE FOLDED AN OPPONENT “LIKE A DECKCHAIR”.
Which is what happens when a dude tackles a chick on the rugby field.
But coach Wayne Mansell notes: “I’ve seen Kelly struggling more than a lot of the girls with the demands our of training.”
That said, Kelly, 33, accepts transgender women may have an advantage in terms of size and strength.
“I do feel guilty, but what can you do?” she says. “I don’t go out to hurt anybody. I just want to play rugby.”
You can try not playing and not putting other people at higher risk of injury than normal.
[…] BRIAN MINTY, WHO FOUNDED THE TEAM FOUR YEARS AGO, SAYS: “I’VE ALWAYS TAKEN RUGBY AS A TOTALLY INCLUSIVE SPORT AND WE’RE HAPPY TO WELCOME KELLY TO THE CLUB.
HE CAN’T RESIST A JOKE, THOUGH, ADDING:
“SHE’S GOING TO BE A GOOD, GOOD PLAYER FOR THE NEXT FEW YEARS, AS LONG AS WE CAN STOP HER INJURING PLAYERS IN TRAINING.”
Not such a joke when other players are being injured.
Minty-Madley says Kelly is not treated differently to other members of the squad.
“Kelly has become completely and utterly absorbed into the team,” she says.
“She’s one of us. She comes in, trains hard, plays hard and parties hard with us afterwards.
“She folded a girl like a deckchair during a game, which was quite funny, but they’re still friends.”
Mansell sees Kelly as a great addition to his squad.
Well, you have a guy playing for your women’s rugby team.
“Straight away we just saw there was a load of ability there,” he says.
Really? God, you couldn’t make this up.
“Some days are good, some days are bad, but at the end of the day can you really exclude people?
Yes if it creates an unfair advantage.
I have a bit of sympathy for Mr Morgan. From the sounds of it, he didn’t fail at men’s rugby but had an unfortunate accident which stopped him from playing. I see his decision to become a “woman” as something unrelated. I also see him as someone with a mental illness.
What I don’t get are the enablers around him who either really do think that that this bloke is a woman or want to appear to be so PC they’re willing to pretend that this guy is actually female.
And don’t get me started on the media who are basically giving Mr Morgan a soapbox for his delusions and mental illness.
[…]And Kelly, who works as a lorry driver, has a simple message.
“I have no shame in who I am,” she says.
“I’m itching to go out on the rugby pitch, have a good laugh with the girls and be part of a massive community. It brings a smile to my face.”
On second thoughts I take it all back. Somebody bring me a barf bag.