https://t.co/iK6vmw9ixz
Here follows my quick first thoughts of Roberts et al., 2020.
I predict this paper will generate much discussion over the coming weeks and months.

Highly-active people, albeit not specifically-trained athletes. Mean age 26.6 yrs +/- 5.5 yrs.


The performance of TW/TM over 30 months of treatment was retrieved from official records and compared with pre-treatment “baseline” performance.
(I think I’m reading that correctly...)
TW were weaker than control men (CM) pre-treatment and throughout transition. The authors speculate this may be explained by aversion to upper body training and its aesthetic outcomes.

TW were equivalent to CM pre-treatment and to 2 yrs of transition. The authors argue that there is no clear aversion to abdominal training and its effect on body shape.

This is where it gets really interesting. While TW clearly lose speed from baseline, they appear to recover some speed after 2yrs.

Note: ‘weak’ is relative. These females are pretty hardcore :)
The push-up/sit-up data are interesting. These fitness tests come with targets that must be reached and the targets are different for males and females. My first question is therefore: after 2 yrs of transition, are TW are being set female targets?
Is it possible the apparent sharp drop off in performance is actually an artifact of the test conditions?
Are CM not bothering more than necessary, while TM go the extra mile? The authors also speculate that, again for aesthetic reasons, TM may train - hard - and thus, genuinely outperform CM. I’m not convinced.
Could be mirrored in TM?
1. TW are genuinely losing all their muscular endurance advantage after 2 yrs, in which case the running data shows it is impossible to undo the benefits of a male skeleton.
I’d argue that, when viewed as part of the ever-increasing body of knowledge, there is a retained strength advantage *and* unaltered skeletal advantage.
Thus, this study presents far more robust running data than that of Harper 2015.
More from Emma Hilton
With Cathy's permission, I have converted the stats from this paper into graphic form.
Read on.
First, Cathy reported the numbers and % split of UK males and females playing selected sports. Male participation is higher than female participation.
Then, Cathy used population estimates to predict the numbers of male and female athletes who would be eligible, under a selfID model, for the opposite sex category. Cathy calculated these trans athletes as % of opposite sex category.
I have calculated the trans athletes as a frequency in the opposite sex category.
Here is the data for transwomen in female sports.
Here is the data for transmen in male sports.
Read on.
Delighted my research article Female Sports Participation, Gender Identity and the British 2010 Equality Act is now published in Sport Ethics and Philosophy. 1/https://t.co/wNPz2sd2WD
— Cathy Devine (@cathydevine56) November 9, 2021
First, Cathy reported the numbers and % split of UK males and females playing selected sports. Male participation is higher than female participation.

Then, Cathy used population estimates to predict the numbers of male and female athletes who would be eligible, under a selfID model, for the opposite sex category. Cathy calculated these trans athletes as % of opposite sex category.
I have calculated the trans athletes as a frequency in the opposite sex category.
Here is the data for transwomen in female sports.

Here is the data for transmen in male sports.

More from Transgender
”No child should ever be forced to live a life that is not theirs, I did and it nearly killed me many times.”
It appears that every time an under-age Transgender person attempts to access medical care to make their lives better conservative people try to say they’re not ready for it.
As an older transgender woman who waited until I my mid 30’s due to those same prevailing attitudes, I feel it’s sad right-wing people are still trotting out those same tired old lines.
According to them, we’re too young to know our gender pre-pubescent and when we start undergoing a puberty which doesn’t align with our gender identity apparently we’re still far too young to access puberty blockers to make the masculinisation process go away.
These people only want us to access medical care after the age of 18 and that’s when it’s far too late for many Trans women, as the whole masculinisation process [which we didn’t want in the first place] has already happened.
Sport in a way made my transgender self so much harder because the more well-known I become, the more difficult it become to come out as who I truly was.
— Kirsti Miller (@KirstiMiller30) July 1, 2020
2- pic.twitter.com/I7hgkLPAQa
It appears that every time an under-age Transgender person attempts to access medical care to make their lives better conservative people try to say they’re not ready for it.

As an older transgender woman who waited until I my mid 30’s due to those same prevailing attitudes, I feel it’s sad right-wing people are still trotting out those same tired old lines.
According to them, we’re too young to know our gender pre-pubescent and when we start undergoing a puberty which doesn’t align with our gender identity apparently we’re still far too young to access puberty blockers to make the masculinisation process go away.
These people only want us to access medical care after the age of 18 and that’s when it’s far too late for many Trans women, as the whole masculinisation process [which we didn’t want in the first place] has already happened.
Okay #trans allies - what are you going to do to help us? Actual, concrete actions? What will you do:
- today?
- over the course of a week?
- before the end of the year?
- throughout 2021?
I want to hear about it - and I want you to spread the word to other cis people.
Some ideas, if you're stuck. If you have the money, donate to one (or all) of these fundraisers/organisations:
1. @GoodLawProject Transgender Lives
2. A trans healthcare/mutual aid fund:
- @BlkTAlliance
- @BlackTransUK
- https://t.co/4sIT4GJ08r
- @transMAMCR
- @SWTNMutualAid
3. @Genderintell, to get help to the young trans people under attack right now.
4. Educate yourself about #trans lives so that you can confidently spread that knowledge amongst your cis networks. Buy a trans-authored book today, read it cover to cover, then PASS IT ON TO A CIS FRIEND. Is there a trans resource you love? Give it to ALL your cis friends.
- today?
- over the course of a week?
- before the end of the year?
- throughout 2021?
I want to hear about it - and I want you to spread the word to other cis people.
Some ideas, if you're stuck. If you have the money, donate to one (or all) of these fundraisers/organisations:
1. @GoodLawProject Transgender Lives
2. A trans healthcare/mutual aid fund:
- @BlkTAlliance
- @BlackTransUK
- https://t.co/4sIT4GJ08r
- @transMAMCR
- @SWTNMutualAid
3. @Genderintell, to get help to the young trans people under attack right now.
4. Educate yourself about #trans lives so that you can confidently spread that knowledge amongst your cis networks. Buy a trans-authored book today, read it cover to cover, then PASS IT ON TO A CIS FRIEND. Is there a trans resource you love? Give it to ALL your cis friends.
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1/OK, data mystery time.
This New York Times feature shows China with a Gini Index of less than 30, which would make it more equal than Canada, France, or the Netherlands. https://t.co/g3Sv6DZTDE
That's weird. Income inequality in China is legendary.
Let's check this number.
2/The New York Times cites the World Bank's recent report, "Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World".
The report is available here:
3/The World Bank report has a graph in which it appears to show the same value for China's Gini - under 0.3.
The graph cites the World Development Indicators as its source for the income inequality data.
4/The World Development Indicators are available at the World Bank's website.
Here's the Gini index: https://t.co/MvylQzpX6A
It looks as if the latest estimate for China's Gini is 42.2.
That estimate is from 2012.
5/A Gini of 42.2 would put China in the same neighborhood as the U.S., whose Gini was estimated at 41 in 2013.
I can't find the <30 number anywhere. The only other estimate in the tables for China is from 2008, when it was estimated at 42.8.
This New York Times feature shows China with a Gini Index of less than 30, which would make it more equal than Canada, France, or the Netherlands. https://t.co/g3Sv6DZTDE
That's weird. Income inequality in China is legendary.
Let's check this number.
2/The New York Times cites the World Bank's recent report, "Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World".
The report is available here:
3/The World Bank report has a graph in which it appears to show the same value for China's Gini - under 0.3.
The graph cites the World Development Indicators as its source for the income inequality data.

4/The World Development Indicators are available at the World Bank's website.
Here's the Gini index: https://t.co/MvylQzpX6A
It looks as if the latest estimate for China's Gini is 42.2.
That estimate is from 2012.
5/A Gini of 42.2 would put China in the same neighborhood as the U.S., whose Gini was estimated at 41 in 2013.
I can't find the <30 number anywhere. The only other estimate in the tables for China is from 2008, when it was estimated at 42.8.