The Roman Catholic Church “unequivocally rejects any gender ideology that denies the intrinsic biological differences between men and women”

As a 56 year-old who has recently resumed running as a regular form of exercise (and have lost about 20 lbs. & 2+” in waist-size in the past few months as a result), I lurk on & occasionally post on a (secular) running forum, for tips & ideas.

A frequent topic there that always generates much (heated) discussion (with a big majority even in such a secular forum being adamantly opposed to it) is the push in some places to permit transgender, biological males to compete in sports against biological females (example):

https://abcnews.go.com/US/transgender-teens-outrun-track-field-competitors-critics-close/story?id=55856294

First of all, well done, Larry.

Regarding the topic, seems like one of those where the church needs to step up and go beyond “male and female He created them.” That tells us our origins, but not really what we are to do with it. The doctrines of masculinity and femininity pervade the Scriptures, and we’ve got to up our game to note that it’s not simply the way we were created, but is also how He intends us to function, as we carry His Image.

And track & field and other sports? Let’s be honest; since testosterone can be cleared from the blood in about three weeks, womens’ sports have been “trans” in all but surgery since the 1960s. To draw a picture, the WR Caster Semenya is closing in on belongs to Jarmila Kratochvilova, who was so full of steroids in 1983-4 that she hardly looked female. All of the womens’ WRs below 3000m are from 30 years back or more—really before the IOC got good at testing for testosterone.