The ban on trans women in chess is not just transphobia. It’s misogyny.

Slovenia vs Filipines at the 40th Chess Olympiad
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Every week, conservatives lose their minds anew. It doesn’t take much to trigger this inexorable natural process; usually it’s something like the new Barbie movie or Minnie Mouse wearing pants. Still, when they channel that misplaced outrage into actual, injurious discrimination, it never fails to shock.

Related: International chess organization bans trans women from competing as women

Most recently, conservatives achieved something particularly ugly: The banning of trans women from all official women’s chess competitions worldwide. The decision, enacted by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), naturally stirred up controversy.

Though purportedly evening the playing field…somehow…FIDE belied its own messaging by simultaneously announcing that it would strip all trans men of their hard-earned titles. FIDE also failed to understand how transness works, claiming that a trans man could regain his title if “the person changes the gender back to a woman.”  Thus, the resultant message was, “We are unapologetically transphobic.”

Yet, as trans journalist Ana Valens pointed out in an op-ed for The Mary Sue, there were other factors at play…

Read full story, and more, from Source: The ban on trans women in chess is not just transphobia. It’s misogyny.

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