The podcast in NYCLU emphasizes deep roots of anti-trans-transport bans and its connections to fascism

New York-in of a recently carried out consequence of the rights of the Nyclu, the journalist and author Michael Waters followed the roots of today's anti-trans sports policy for almost a century and drew direct limits from contemporary right-wing rhetoric to Nazis ideology.

Waters, whose book the other Olympics: Fascism, Queenness and the development of modern sports have been recognized widely, shared the historical context that complicated the idea that debates about gender and athletics are new.

The episode was broadcast a policy just a few days after the explanation of former President Donald Trump, which would punish states to take part in transgender athletes in teams that match their gender identity.

At an election campaign event, Trump swore “to prevent men from beating up, violating and cheating our women and girls”, and promised that “women's sports will only be for women”. The political threat is part of a wider platform that has described civil rights representatives as an unprecedented attack on the rights of trans people across the country.

Waters' interview with Simon McCormick Simon McCormick was recorded before Trump's latest escalation, but remains in time. His book focuses on the history of Zdeněk Koubek, a Czech athlete athlete who passed the gender in the mid-1930s and became the goal of the global exam.

The transition from Koubek, said Waters, solved both the public fascination and the reactionary political shifts within international athletics, especially the first gender tests introduced in the Olympic Games in Berlin in Berlin in Berlin, some of which were driven by the Nazis officials.

“Immediately after Koubek passed the gender,” said Waters, “you can see these first guidelines to regulate who can play in women's sports at the Olympic Games. Some of them are said goodbye because of the efforts of various Nazi sports officers.”

Such a official was Wilhelm Knoll, a National Socialist sports doctor who urged himself for medical examinations to check the justification of the athletes. The rule made it possible for every competitor to protest against the gender of another, which led to potentially invasive exams. While Knoll framed his campaign as an effort to maintain fairness, Waters emphasized that she was permeated in Eugenik and exclusion.

“There is this Paranoia and Illogic,” said Waters. “He did not try to actually explain or articulate who a woman was in his eyes and who wasn't.”

The inconsistencies, as the waters found, were the point. By refusing to clearly define femininity, sports officers could clearly disqualify athletes' subjective perceptions of masculinity, breed or class. “There was a lot of scope for them,” he said.

The podcast examined, born in the context of Nazi Germany, to a broader surveillance system, which women called disproportionately, which were black, muscular or other ways of defiant gender expectations. The water made a strong contrast between media reporting from the early 20th century-to-the-life, although it is awkward, often curiosity and empathy-and the current political weapon of trans-athletes in the USA

“In 1935 and 1936, journalists did not always use the right language, but there was this real sense of curiosity,” he said. “There was openness to the possibility that these categories of men and women might not be so perfect.”

This openness, said Waters, was short -lived. Until 1936, the Olympic establishment – influenced by fascist ideology and racist pseudoscientific – had implemented the first institutional efforts for the gender of the police. Over time, these guidelines harden to systems that have defined elite women's sports for decades.

The conversation became parallel between Koubek's experience and the latest controversy, including the online counter reaction against IMANE KHELIF, an Algerian boxer who won gold at the 2024 Olympic Games. Khelif was targeted by transhobic conspiracy theories, even though she was a Cisgend woman.

Waters compared Khelif's tortur to that of Helen Stephens, a Cisgend -American sprinter who won gold at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, and was immediately accused of being a man in disguise. “Both ultimately won gold,” noted Waters, “and there is something about a woman who does not meet the expectations of white femininity – and still wins – is exposed to an extreme exam.”

He emphasized that the counter-reaction against trans-athletes was part of a wider right-wing efforts to limit civil rights and use sport as a convenient entry point. “We see that this system will be weapons against children,” said Waters. “And for me it's pretty terrible.”

Waters admitted that the arguments that are often used against Trans -Inclusion – such as fairness and security – are under control. He pointed out a number of integrated advantages that were already assumed in sports, from body type to class privilege.

“Michael Phelps has a wingspan far above the relationship with his body – that's perfect for swimming. Nobody says he shouldn't compete,” said Waters. “But if you are already inclined to have transthobia, it is easy to fix yourself on trans -athletes. That is the real danger.”

Water also drew attention to how sports bans often serve as a forerunner for broader civil rights, including access to healthcare. “What we have to do is to defend this problem and not give it up,” he said. “Because this is really the first step to take away the rights in masses.”

Despite the dark story and today's threats, Water's cautious hope expressed. He emphasized states such as New York, in which trans-inclusive guidelines exist, and praised the recent organizational efforts that aimed at defending transgender youth.

“I was really encouraged to see people walking on the street and showing up for trans children,” he said. “There is a real collective to organize these problems, and I think it is very possible to return to a more integrative place.”

The water ascents asked the supporters to reject the defeats and concentrate on rhetorical frames. “The conversation is always: is it fair that a trans woman takes part in competitions?” he said. “But it is never: is it fair to tell her that she can't keep up? We have to shift the conversation there.”

Since the legislation against the anti-broadcasts continues to escalate across the country, the decision of the NYCLU to illuminate Waters' work, both as a warning and as a memory: the political persecution of trans people has deep historical roots and must be met for deep resistance.

The lesson of history is clear to water. “In the archives there are shimmer of queer potential,” he said. “We cannot afford to forget that – or to leave this moment unchallenged.”

Categories:

Break news in daily injustice

Tags:

Donald Trump Helen Stephens Imane Khelif Michael Waters Nazi Germany Nyclu Nyclus Right in this way Podcast Wilhelm Knoll Zdeněk Koubekk