An interesting piece in The Washington Post, the start:

The international governing body for chess has released new policies that prohibit transgender women from competing in women’s events and will strip some transgender players of their titles.

Under the new guidelines from the International Chess Federation — known by its French acronym, FIDE — individuals who transition from male to female have “no right” to compete in official events for women until “further analysis” is made, which could take up to two years. Additionally, if a player holds titles in women’s categories and transitions to male, “the women titles are to be abolished,” while if the player transitions from male to female, the titles will remain, the handbook says. [J4MB: Well, that makes sense…]

Later in the piece:

But “there’s not that physicality dimension to chess, it’s a game of strategy,” said Richard Pringle, a professor of sociology and education who studies gender and sexuality [J4MB: In plain English, he’s a mangina] in the context of sport at Monash University in Australia. “It suggests that males are somehow strategically better. … It’s not just transphobic, it’s anti-feminist too,” he said of the ban, adding that it was “likely a political decision rather than an issue of fairness.

‘Professor’ Pringle’s page on the Monash University website is here. He proudly lays out his mangina credentials there.

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