So I am gonna write about something, controversial, well I don’t think it’s controversial personally.

I want to write about the US swimmer Lia Thomas, whom you may have seen featured in hate filed articles arguing that as a biological male, she has no right to compete against cis women.

I saw a meme that made a big deal about the fact that in the 2020-21 season, she ranked 462nd amongst males.

But you see that got me wondering, she had to be on oestrogen for a full 12 months before she could compete as a woman. So that means in the 2020-21 season she was competing against cis men whilst on oestrogen.

Oestrogens biggest impact on a person assigned male at birth, is the extremely quick reduction in muscle mass, it drops off you very quickly.

What this means is that you have a denser bone structure that you need to work harder to make work, so against cis men, and even against cis women, you would find yourself at a disadvantage.

So how did Lia perform in the last season she competed in, prior to oestrogen treatment.

Well the answer is available for all to see, she was in the 500, 1000 and 1650 freestyle events, number 1, not simply good, she was the best amongst men in the entire US.

Her times when she swam before her transition were exceptional, I mean they were incredible.

She was an exceptional swimmer when competing as a man, and is an exceptional swimmer when competing as a woman.

What this says to me is that it’s not about her being a mediocre man who changed sex to win medal, but that she is simply a good swimmer no matter how she competes.

It reminded me of a US army study that looked at trans women in training. After being on oestrogen, they did have an advantage over the average cis woman, 12% to be precise.

However, the average elite level female runner is 29% better than the average cis woman, and none of the studies participants even reached that level.

Now I conceded, the research done into trans woman’s participation in sport is limited, and the conclusions are not quite conclusive either way.

But so far the evidence suggests that trans women are less likely to be as good as other cis athletes in their ability level.

But contrary to what people say, trans women aren’t dominating woman’s sport, far from it.

Lia Thomas is simply an exceptionally good swimmer, she has demonstrated it in both gender categories by dominating them.

So frankly I think it’s more likely that like Michael Phelps, she may have genetic differences that simply make her better at swimming.

What I Am Modelling

I painted the Pathfinder Team for my T’au Empire.

After that I finished Darkstrider.

A Thermo-Exchanger Shrine got bought earlier in the week and painted up on Sunday night to add to the Company of Legends terrain.

After this I competed a unit of Deathmarks for my Necrons.

I then turned my attention to the Skitarii Rangers that I needed for a battle report.

Currently on my painting desk are some Primaris Suppressors for the Ultramarines.

So what’s coming up next week?

  1. Ork Kommandos Kill Team x 12
  2. Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
  3. Blood Bowl Referees x 2
  4. Blood Angels Primaris Lieutenant, Librarian in Phobos Armour & Assault Intercessors x 8
  5. Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
  6. Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 2
  7. Morg n Thorg
  8. T’au Breacher Squad x 10
  9. Fafnir Rann
  10. Ork Terrain

What I Am Reading

I published my review of School of X which you can read here.

And I also finished To Chart the Clouds by Evan Dicken, a review of which you will find here.

I am currently reading Reign of the Devourer by David Annandale.

What Video Games Am I Playing

Not much, but I did play Horizon Zero Dawn for a couple of hours on stream on Thursday.

https://youtu.be/ZhuDqER_R7A

Other than that it’s mostly been Halo Infinite, been playing Ranked Area games to get an achievement.

And some Forza Horizon 5 here and there.

What I Am Creating

I published the issue 20 Imperium Battle Report.

What I Am Spending

I did grab a Thermo-Exchanger Shrine to add to one of the Company of Legends table, one of the Sector Mechanicum probably.

I bought the Itch.io Ukraine bundle, it’s an awful lot of stuff, but the donation is the best but about that.

To help with the vlogging for Company of Legends I grabbed a Mini LED video light.

I wanted the one recommended by Randomfrankp, but that particular model isn’t available in the UK, so I grabbed this one as it’s pretty much the same thing.