October 22, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) – Presidential son Donald Trump Jr. was among the many voices criticizing biological male “Rachel” McKinnon’s victory at the Masters Track Cycling World Championships, decrying it as an affront to actual female athletes.
The Canadian-born McKinnon, who is also a philosophy professor on the faculty at South Carolina’s College of Charleston, first won the women’s sprint 35-39 age bracket last year, and won the gold again this weekend while setting a new best time.
“You can never be woke enough!” Trump Jr. quipped Monday in response. “Sorry to all female athletes who spent their lives mastering their games.”
You can never be woke enough! Sorry to all female athletes who spent their lives mastering their games.
Transgender Cyclist Who Set Women's World Record Wouldn't Have Qualified For Men's Championship https://t.co/r6YMS5IYkG
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 21, 2019
It’s funny because it’s true. Sad. https://t.co/rS9y8exKjo
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 21, 2019
McKinnon responded by suggesting the tweet “explains the explosion of hate messages I'm getting,” and discouraged his fans from engaging with critical tweets because doing so is “wasting your time and just clogging up my notifications.”
Oh THIS explains the explosion of hate messages I'm getting!! https://t.co/4DTjkb1suB
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) October 21, 2019
Babes. Seriously. I get hundreds and thousands of hate tweets a day.
STOP ARGUING WITH THEM.
You're wasting your time and just clogging up my notifications.
Please.
— Dr. Rachel McKinnon (@rachelvmckinnon) October 21, 2019
Trump Jr. was far from McKinnon’s only critic, however, with political pundits, athletes, and everyday readers alike commenting that biological male participation in athletic events meant for women undermines competition and ignores biological differences between the sexes:
I’ve not spoken to a single competing or retired elite athlete Male or female (as they understand how fractions of a second is the difference between medals or non) who think male biology should be in female sport. We need to find better solutions and RM needs to be less abusive
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) October 22, 2019
Make sure to put an asterisk by the record, since it was achieved via the physical benefits of male puberty.
— dr. jen wagner-assali (@jkwagnermd) October 18, 2019
Women’s sports. RIP. https://t.co/fn88FLI25d
— Steven Crowder (@scrowder) October 21, 2019
Canadian Rachel McKinnon is the fastest man in women's cycling history, eh? You go, guy!
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 21, 2019
The lack of feminist outrage over this issue leads me to believe that feminists aren’t REALLY all that serious about feminism https://t.co/DbQBr3Iqrt
— Adam Trahan (@AdamTrahan) October 21, 2019
This is really sad. All those (biologically born) women who trained for years for that moment. How can they possibly win against someone born biologically male? Rachel McKinnon says what about her rights? But what about theirs?https://t.co/iQ29jcF3LY
— Charlotte Gill (@CharlotteCGill) October 20, 2019
Why is McKinnon always so keen to force women to touch him? pic.twitter.com/0ctLmW904Y
— Red Cat (@RedCatWave) October 21, 2019
In June, the Journal of Medical Ethics published a paper by researchers in New Zealand finding that “healthy young men (do) not lose significant muscle mass (or power) when their circulating testosterone levels were reduced to (below International Olympic Committee guidelines) for 20 weeks,” and “indirect effects of testosterone” on factors such as bone structure, lung volume, and heart size “will not be altered by hormone therapy;” therefore, “the advantage to transwomen (men) afforded by the (International Olympic Committee) guidelines is an intolerable unfairness.”
Such findings are consistent with those of organizations like USA Powerlifting, which contends that “men naturally have a larger bone structure, higher bone density, stronger connective tissue and higher muscle density than women. These traits, even with reduced levels of testosterone, do not go away. While MTF (male-to-female) may be weaker and less muscle than they once were, the biological benefits given them at birth still remain over than (sic) of a female.”
“The world record McKinnon set in the qualifying round was 11.649 for the female age 35-39 group,” Townhall’s Timothy Meads noted. “In the male 35-39 age group, the top qualifying round time was 10.498. In fact, if McKinnon had competed against these men instead of women, the Canadian's time would not have even finished in the top 10. McKinnon would have placed 11th, right behind Poland's Adrian Swiderski, who posted a time of 11.386. This means McKinnon would not have been allowed to compete in the men's sprint championship.”