In what could be a sign that the RBC rights movement (the Reality-Based Community) is finally starting to gain some traction, USA Swimming released its “Athlete Inclusion, Competitive Equality and Eligibility Policy,” and it actually contains a tiny concession to biological reality.

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/lia-thomas-future-usa-swimming-new-policy-penn-teammates-support

There are still vast clouds of gaseous, CYA verbiage about “gender identity and expression,” but to cut to the chase, eligibility to compete will now include two areas of criteria: evidence that the prior physical development of the athlete as a male doesn’t provide an unfair advantage over female competitors, and evidence that the athlete’s testosterone levels have been sufficiently suppressed for at least 36 months before applying.

This was all prompted by UPenn swimmer “Lia” Thomas, who competed as a male for three years before switching to female, where “she” routinely passes female competitors like a speed boat and is mowing down female records by absurd margins. Take a look at the photo in that story, and you’ll see why.

I’m sure this change will come under furious assault by trans activists, but it's really just a welcome baby step toward returning recognition of the most basic biological facts and doesn’t go nearly far enough. For instance, current testosterone levels are only a small part of the advantage males have in sports because boys are exposed to so much testosterone from the womb onward. The changes during puberty give them even more muscle mass, greater upper body strength and other physical advantages that no testosterone suppressant can reverse.

Trans activists prove this by their own arguments. They go to court for the right to administer puberty-blocking drugs on grounds that if someone wants to “transition” to the other sex, it’s harder after puberty because of the irreversible physical changes. But when trans females want to compete in sports against biological females, suddenly, those physical changes during puberty don’t exist anymore.

This story says that Thomas’ teammates “released a joint statement backing their fellow competitor.” Yes, I’m sure they felt they had to because of the Twitter mob/cancel culture/trans activist pressure. But I’ll bet that in private spaces where it's only the girls – if such spaces still exist anymore – they’re high-fiving over this.