Society is progressive. Not in the political sense, but in that it always moves forward. We address a problem, we learn from it, and we move on to the next one. We're a goddamn freight train of understanding, barreling through one unjust practice after another like they're so many arrogant cows. Or that's the idea, anyway. But sometimes history repeats itself. Like right now, with our treatment of transgender issues, which so closely mirrors past bigotry. We're still trotting out tired old arguments, like ...

6 "They'll Ruin Sports!"

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Immediately after the International Olympics Committee announced it would no longer discriminate against transgender athletes, the internet's butthole opened wide and a torrent of thinkpieces burst out:

The Federalist

The Times

Read: "Women are unfair to women."

Or when MMA fighter Fallon Fox announced that she wanted to compete against other women, upsetting the fourth male lead of NewsRadio:

The Daily Banter

Where is Andy Dick's hot take? That's the real story.

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Several MMA fighters and pros have said that Fox shouldn't fight women. The argument is that since trans athletes produce more testosterone (not after surgery) and have mightier skeletons (not really), we shouldn't let them compete with "female-all-along" ones. Sure, that almost makes sense (if you ignore the parentheticals), but it sounds somehow familiar ...

Where We've Heard It Before:

"The integrity of sports" has been used to justify discrimination for a long time. Look no further than the color barrier, which kept talented black athletes from playing in the major leagues until the middle of the 20th Century. Even after they were allowed in, other players would still refuse to play with them -- not because they were racist, of course, but because tradition.

Via Baseballcontinuum.com