Alana McLaughlin, a transgender combat veteran, defeated a woman named Celine Provost in “their” very first MMA fight. Provost has ten years of MMA experience and did not stand much of a chance during the fight. McLaughlin lacked in-the-ring fighting skills and took quite a few punches while landing very few. But all it took was one chance takedown from McLaughlin to end it all once they were able to clamp on a rear-naked choke. The fight brings up an obvious question of “rights” vs “fairness”.
McLaughlin spent seven years as a member of the Army Special Forces. “They” spent time in Afghanistan and saved lives. He was (and most likely still is) revered as a legitimate war hero. Pictures of McLaughlin while he identified as male present him as an alpha male ready for whatever dangers come in his direction. McLaughlin has lost considerable weight and muscle after transitioning just five years ago. However, becoming a “woman” does not take away over 30 years of being a biological man. Nor does it take away all the physical training and expert combat knowledge gained while being in the Army Special Forces.
There may be a specific reason why McLaughlin has transitioned and desires to compete against biological women. To describe their childhood as “rough” might be an understatement. McLaughlin’s parents noticed an issue with homosexuality in their child at an early age. They tried conversion therapy which was unsuccessful. There was an attempt to have a young “Alana” spend “masculine time” with a farmer’s son. The son wound up sexually assaulting McLaughlin. Later in life, McLaughlin recalls a phone call with his mother where he stated “I guess I’ll go die in a war”. McLaughlin’s mother responded, “well maybe you should”.
Deep-seated issues with a close family member can cause severe mental problems that may last a lifetime. The common phrase is “you become what you hate”. Maybe McLaughlin’s transition from male to female is because of the mental anguish his mother caused him as a child. And maybe signing up for the MMA was done so he could legally beat up on women as a form of self-therapy – to attack his own demons personified as women. This is unhealthy and should not be tolerated. But here we are.
Transgender activists are constantly fighting for the rights they think they deserve. The problem is that there isn’t much of a line drawn between where their rights begin and where other’s rights end. Is it fair for a biological man to identify as a woman and fight them although they have a natural advantage over biological women? The same question applies to other sports as well. There are men who competed in their respective sports identifying as male without much success. When these men transition to women, they often shoot to the top and dominate. This defeats the entire purpose of having gendered sports. It is unfair and simply a loophole for subpar male athletes to perform better than they ever could have against other biological men. And for goodness sake… please don’t use violent contact sports as a method of self-healing.
SOURCES:
PIERS MORGAN: It’s time to stop this trans sport insanity before women start being killed | Daily Mail Online
Transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin wins MMA debut
Alana McLaughlin’s journey from US special forces to trans MMA fighter | MMA | The Guardian
Transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin submits Celine Provost in MMA debut
Transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin addresses critics after MMA debut
Fallon Fox on life as a trans athlete: ‘The scope of vitriol and anger was mind-blowing’ | Sport | The Guardian
