Opponents say [Washington state] voters were persuaded at least partly because the initiative and its boosters exploited deep-seated prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender people to erode their rights.
Opponents say [Washington state] voters were persuaded at least partly because the initiative and its boosters exploited deep-seated prejudices and misunderstandings about transgender people to erode their rights.
Yes, even if the trans woman has a bigger frame from a testosterone puberty.
I appreciate that you brought this up, because it does look like a clear advantage. I understand why people assume it is an advantage. However, what the science has shown, is that it ends up being a slight disadvantage.
Estrogen changes organ function, muscle mass, skin thickness, and many other facets of a human body. It changes these even if you’ve had a testosterone puberty.
So, when a trans woman tries to move those heavier bones, she can not move them as fast as a cis woman, no matter what the trans woman does. Because her heart, lungs, muscle fibers, etc, those parts of her body cannot move the bones as fast any more.
Force = Mass x Velocity
A cis woman can reach a higher velocity in that equation than a trans woman. And so, she has more force. This means that a cis woman can throw a harder punch, she has a faster run, and a stronger tackle.
The trans woman cannot hit as hard, tackle as hard, or run as long or as fast, as a cis woman. This is what the science says and what testing has proven.
Think of it like two people swinging a bat. If one woman has a regular baseball bat, she can hit you hard, and it will hurt quite a lot. If another woman has a bat that is too heavy for her to swing easily, she will not hurt you as much. Even though the bat is heavier, if she can only swing it slowly, it will not hurt as much, and she will get tired of holding and swinging it, much faster.
As for your statement about cheating, what you are suggesting is no different than what cis women who want to cheat already do.
Testosterone is steroids. If a cis woman wants to cheat, she can indeed try as you say and take testosterone long before the event, but stop a few months before they test for steroids. A trans woman can do this to. The only difference is where they get their testosterone.
The same tests that can catch cis women, can catch trans women who cheat this way. Those tests are not perfect, and both women will still sometimes get away with cheating. But this is a problem that sports has, and it is not limited to trans women.