FOF #1950 – CrossFits of Rage

Mar 10, 2014 · 1985 views

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Transgender athelete Chloie Jönsson is suing CrossFit for 2.5 million dollars after being told she has to compete with men even though she’s transitioned to being female.

If there is already a precedent for people with hormone replacement therapy to compete in sports, why should this be any different?

Joining us today is sour-puss comedian Brian Sweeney to take a look at gender identity in competitive sports, and how some organizations have proposed solving this dilemma.

    Comments

  1. Jessie says:

    This podcast ended up reminding me how much it really, truly sucks to be both gay and trans, and to hear cis queer people say really ignorant, hurtful things in what is theoretically supposed to be an accepting place. I don’t have it in me right now to go piece-by-piece, but if nothing else, please never use the busted metaphor of being trans supposedly being similar to identifying as non-human or a particular person in history or a race or the like ever again. It’s really up there with the people who say that gay marriage will lead to human/animal marriage in terms of ignorance and hatefulness. I really wanted this to be an affirming discussion on the topic, and how badly it went made me sad.

    • Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in pointing out that when people want to belittle any minority, they usually wind up comparing them to animals. “Why don’t I transition to a cat. If gays marry, will we be marrying dogs, etc.” I agree with you, it’s a ridiculous comparison to make.

      Thanks for your feedback Jessie, because I think you and are are on the same page when it comes to this, and I’m sorry if it didn’t come across clearly.

      We’re here to have discussions with people who don’t always agree with us, and I hope when it comes to this issue that we can all learn and grow, especially when so many people (who want to be allies) are confused or misguided when it comes to transgender people competing in their gender expression in sports.

      The IOC since 2004 has policy in place for transgender athletes to compete, and it appears that Chloie fits those requirements. Their policy isn’t perfect (it doesn’t address the needs of intersexed people for example), but it’s a good place to start.

    • Jesse- I’m very sorry for all the stupid things I said in this podcast. I know nothing about the issue (as is obvious with my talk of “bone density” and other crap) and really hate a lot of the things I said.
      I try to figure out someway to inject humor, but in this episode I was just flailing and had nothing of any substance to add.
      I apologize for any stress or hurt I caused and know that I, too, hate what I said on this episode. There’s so much stupid.
      I have and continue to try to do better.

  2. I’m dating a cross fitter. It’s a $240/month cult that will put you in the hospital. I’ve met several people from his “box” who have needed serious shoulder or back surgery. They all hangout and party together and never stop talking about cross fit. But I went to a competition with him, and it’s widely accepted that the top athletes are on steroids. Second, some of these female competitors are fucking strong and do shut I would never try. It’s pretty absurd to ban this Chloie chick.

    Brian, never change please. I love his disdain for drag queens and expertise on trans rights. His summary of why gay men workout was too true, and I couldn’t quit laughing.

  3. agrimi01 says:

    Brian, why so much anamosity towards Christians. I am a gay Greek Orthodox Christian, and I don’t consider myself stupid. You don’t believe and I can appreciate that. I can take all kinds of criticism, but being called stupid for a belief that I have had for a lifetime is really hateful. If you disect the Bible for what God and Jesus truly say it boils down to this; Obey the 10 commandments and accept Jesus Christ as your Savior. Treat people with kindness and compassion. To me, the rest of the Bible is historical fluff that was written by mortal men – basic laws of the times in which they were written.

    Don’t get me wrong, I value your opinions, but you need to tone it down on such subject matter. You could be insulting people who listen to support Fausto and Marc.

    Fausto, I was joining in your conversation with Brian, but realizing that I looked like a crazy person yelling at my computer. I wish I had it on video to share.

    As for Trans persons, I consider them stronger individuals than I am. I can’t even begin to imagine the thought process and turmoil that they go through. I have a good friend transitioning from M to F. I love this person and am proud to be friends.

    Brian again, you are right about gay men and work outs. They’re not at the gym for the exercise. Well, not the exercise they’d get at the gym.

    I’ve written too much. I love all three of you and will continue to listen faithfully.

    Your Minneapolis, MN Huntie,
    Jim C

  4. Than says:

    Good riddance, Rich. You weren’t even a Plus subscriber. And, you stopped listening because one of many guests on a talk show expressed an opinion? You are a fucking idiot. Good riddance.

    If you believe that god is love, more power to you. If you are making metaphysical faith claims, that’s your belief. Good for you. There are many great philosophical precepts in the major world religions. Love your neighbor as yourself. Forgive one another. Don’t place too much value in material things.

    If you believe the Ten Commandments is a great template for moral behavior, you are morally bankrupt. No mention of rape. Really? If you believe the earth was literally created sometime after Stonehenge was built, you are an idiot. If you believe the human species descended literally from two people in a literal garden with two literal magic trees, you are stupid. If you believe donkeys talk, that unicorns exist, or that dinosaurs literally coexisted with humans (I’m not making this up; this is all in the Christian Bible), you are crazy. If you believe that a senior citizen built a ship out of wood with stone age tools to carry two of all 100 million species that supposedly lived in Noah’s time or two of all 9 million species that were living in Noah’s time and billions of tons of food to feed them for over a year, and that he and his small family managed to scrub the millions of tons of shit off the decks of that ship every day, you are the worlds biggest fucking moron.

    If you want to believe that god loves you and you should love other people, awesome! I love you too. If you remain in the realm of faith, no one can touch you. I have nothing to say about your metaphysical claims. But, when you make claims of fact, you enter the realm of science. And, when you believe things which are verifiably false, you are willfully ignorant and open to criticism.

    All that said, the problem with saying ‘Christians are stupid’ is that it is an entirely unqualified statement. There are as many Christian beliefs as there are Christians. Not all Christians believe in the bad history or magic. Some are more philosophical Christians cherry-picking the good philosophy and discarding the bad philosophy. It seems like an awful lot of mental acrobatics to go through to defend deeply flawed books written by deeply flawed men, writing from a pre-scientific, superstitious, bigoted, misogynistic, chauvinistic, homophobic, culturally-limitied world view, but if that is you, I don’t think that makes you stupid per se.

    Stupid religious beliefs, by the way, are not limited to Christianity. People in India worship (even feed) paper idols that they make themselves. Dumb-Duh-Dumb-Dumb-Dumb

    • Why can’t we cherry pick the best things from all cultures and create our own? Isn’t that what we’re already doing anyways?

      • Than says:

        That’s what I was saying in so many words in defense of cherry-picking. I disagree with Sam Harris’ hypothesis that moderates (cherry-pickers) create a human shield against criticism of extremists. I think moderates have the most to lose to the extremists and are in the best position to moderate the world-view of extremists.

  5. For the record, everything I say has been pre-written by Marc and Fausto. I am merely an actor playing the role of this idiot “Brian Sweeney”.

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