LOS ANGELES, Ca. — Controversy is stirring after a man who identifies as a woman won a women’s division sprint of the UCI Masters Track Cycling World Championships on Sunday, as some say that the win is unfair for the female competitors in the race.
The cyclist, who goes by the name Rachel McKinnon, won the 35-44 age bracket women’s sprint, with Carolien Van Herrikhuyzen and Jennifer Wagner taking second and third place, respectively. McKinnon, who was born in Canada and represented his birth country in the race, works as an assistant professor in the philosophy department at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
“First transgender woman world champion … ever,” he tweeted following the win.
However, others also soon took to social media to express objection, including journalist Katie Hopkins, who wrote, “For clarity, this was the women’s world championships. I repeat. Women’s. Congratulations to the brave faces of silver and bronze. The world is gripped by a febrile madness.”
Third place rider Jennifer Wagner replied to Hopkins’ tweet, simply stating, “It’s definitely not fair.”
McKinnon has refuted the notion that the win was unfair, stating that Wagner has bested him numerous times, winning 11 of the 13 races.
“This is what the double-bind for trans women athletes looks like: When we win, it’s because we’re transgender and it’s unfair; when we lose, no one notices (and it’s because we’re just not that good anyway). Even when it’s the same racer,” he wrote on Tuesday. “That’s what transphobia looks like.”
According to reports, in 2015, the International Olympic Committee issued rules requiring men who identify as women to lower their natural testosterone levels to no greater than 10 nanomoles per liter for at least one year in order to compete in the women’s categories. Prior rules had required a two-year span, as well as “gender reassignment” surgery.
Earlier this year, McKinnon told USA Today that he doesn’t agree with the requirement, stating that the 10 nanomoles mandate is “arbitrary” and that some biological women have testosterone levels higher than that, and some biological men have levels lower than that.
“So you can be a really tall cyclist and that’s fine?” McKinnon asked. “There are so many natural advantages someone could have physically that there is not a good argument for why singling out testosterone solves the problem.”
“This is bigger than sports and it’s about human rights,” he said. “By catering to cisgender people’s views, that furthers transgender people’s oppression. When it comes to extending rights to a minority population, why would we ask the majority? I bet a lot of white people were [angry] when we desegregated sports racially and allowed black people. But they had to deal with it.”
Steve McConkey, founder and president of 4 Winds USA, said in a statement that it is clear that biological men have a physical advantage over women.
“If you look at the transgender athlete compared to the other women medalists, you see the biological benefits that create more power,” he remarked. “The assault on women will continue. … We are living in a time where this is acceptable. The groundwork for this is being set every day from the Olympics to elementary schools. The only way to stop this is for Christians to stand up.”
McConkey further told Christian News Network that the matter is deeper than just sports.
“This is the result of a society that is rejecting God’s moral guidelines. This goes beyond competition,” he opined. “LGBT activists are trying to define gender to implement an immoral end result. Since 2003 when the Olympics allowed transgenders, activists are using transgenders to shock society enough to implement their policies, from elementary schools to the upper levels of sports.”
As previously reported, the Bible teaches that all men are born with the Adamic sin nature, and have various inherent inclinations that are contrary to the law of God, being “by nature the children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) and utterly incapable of changing themselves. It is why Jesus outlined in John 3:5-7 that men must be regenerated by the second birth, or they cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God,” he declared. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”
“Bitter experience teaches that the imprisoning net clings too tightly to be stripped from our limbs by our own efforts. Nay rather, the net and the captive are one, and he who tries to cast off the oppression which hinders him from following that which is good is trying to cast off himself,” also wrote the late preacher and Bible commentator Alexander Maclaren.
“But to men writhing in the grip of a sinful past, or paralyzed beyond writhing and indifferent, because [they are] hopeless, or because they have come to like their captivity, comes one whose name is ‘The Breaker,’ whose mission it is to proclaim liberty to the captives, and whose hand laid on the cords that bind a soul, causes them to drop harmless from the limbs and sets the bondsman free.”
Become a Christian News Network Supporter...
Dear Reader, has ChristianNews.net been of benefit and a blessing to you? For many years now, the Lord has seen fit to use this small news outlet as a strong influential resource in keeping Christians informed on current events from a Biblical worldview. With much compromise and many falsehoods in modern-day Christianity, we strive to bring you the news by keeping Christ and His word in focus. If you have benefited from our news coverage, please prayerfully consider becoming a Christian News supporter by clicking here to make a one-time or monthly donation to help keep the truth of God's word widely and freely published and distributed. May Christ continue to be exalted through this work!
