Woke Dissident

Woke Dissident cuts through the bullshit with sharp, unapologetic takes on politics, culture, and media hypocrisy. No safe spaces—just hard truths and harder questions.

The Outrage Machine Strikes Again

Gavin Newsom—once the golden boy of the left—is getting dragged for daring to say something factually correct. During an interview with Charlie Kirk, he admitted that allowing transgender women (biological males) to compete in female sports is unfair. Cue the outrage.

The same people who cheered his every move are now clutching their pearls. Why? Because he strayed from the script by about 1%. If ideological purity is your standard, enjoy Trump, Musk, and J.D. Vance—you deserve them.

Why Does This Even Matter?

Let’s be real: there are probably 10 cases of trans women competing in high-level women’s sports in the U.S. right now. Yet both sides act like this is the defining issue of our time.

Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Is your rent affordable? Do you feel safe in your city? Those are real issues. Trans athletes? A distraction.

But fine, let’s talk science.

Biology vs. Identity: The Hard Facts

Trans women, even after a year or more of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), retain some physiological advantages over cisgender women. That’s not opinion—it’s peer-reviewed science.

What HRT Does (and Doesn’t) Change

  • Muscle Mass & Strength: A 2020 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that after 12 months of HRT, trans women still had higher muscle mass and strength than cisgender women of the same fitness level (Roberts et al., 2020).
  • Endurance & Performance: A U.S. Air Force study showed that even after two years of HRT, trans women still ran 1.5 miles about 12% faster than cisgender female peers (Wiik et al., 2020).
  • Bone Structure & Hemoglobin: Male puberty provides irreversible advantages like larger skeletal structure and higher oxygen-carrying capacity—factors that aren’t undone by HRT (Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport, 2022).

The bottom line? HRT narrows the gap, but doesn’t erase it. And in sports, even a 1% advantage can be the difference between first place and last.

What About Trans Men?

This is where things get interesting. When female-to-male athletes take testosterone, they gain muscle mass, strength, and endurance at levels comparable to cisgender men. The Air Force study found that after a year of testosterone therapy, trans men matched or exceeded cisgender male performance in push-ups, sit-ups, and running times.

So the debate isn’t just about inclusion. It’s about whether biological differences—differences that even medical transition doesn’t fully eliminate—should be ignored in competitive fairness.

The Policy Mess

High School & College Rules

  • High School: Rules vary wildly. Some states allow trans athletes to compete based on gender identity. Others require HRT. A few states ban trans girls from competing with cis girls altogether.
  • NCAA (College Sports): Until 2021, the NCAA allowed trans women to compete after one year of HRT—but recent studies showing residual advantages led them to reverse course. By 2025, NCAA championships will be restricted to athletes assigned female at birth (NCAA Policy Updates, 2025).

Olympic & International Sports

  • World Rugby & Swimming: Both have banned trans women from competing in female categories, citing safety and fairness concerns.
  • Other Sports: Some allow case-by-case reviews, but the trend is toward restricting categories based on biology, not gender identity.

Life Isn’t Fair. Get Over It.

Does it suck that some trans women might feel excluded? Sure. But life isn’t fair.

If you’re a 5’8” guy who wants to play in the NBA, no one’s bending the rules for you. If you’re a male sprinter who transitions to female and still runs 12% faster than your competitors, that’s an unfair advantage.

Instead of torching Gavin Newsom for stating the obvious, maybe we should focus on things that actually impact people’s lives. Like the fact that the same people pretending to care about women’s sports now didn’t give a damn when female athletes were underpaid and ignored for decades.

But sure, let’s fight about this instead.

Gavin Newsom told the truth. That shouldn’t be controversial. But in 2024, saying basic facts can get you canceled. If that’s the new standard, don’t be shocked when people start rejecting the entire ideology.

Sources

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