Texas woman wants Caitlyn Jenner to return her gold medal
In a stunning case of ignorance, a woman from Texas has started a petition on Change.org asking Caitlyn Jenner to return her Olympic gold medal.
In a post laden with logical fallacies, Jennifer Bradford from Fort Worth, Texas, has asked the International Olympic Committee to “urge Ms. Jenner to support the transgender community by giving up the medals earned by competing against the wrong gender.” She claims that Caitlyn Jenner violated committee rules when she won her decathlon gold medal in 1976 as Bruce Jenner.
“Ms. Jenner (as talented as she is) claims that she has always believed herself to be truly female, and therefore, was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men’s sports and vice versa,” she wrote. She asked if it was “proper” that Jenner should be allowed to retain her medals.
Displaying her ignorance, Bradford claims that “Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men’s event.” She insists that “It is only fair to all involved that women receive their credit as champions of the Decathalon,” and that Jenner’s male competitors “are not expected to compete with a superior, streamlined being such as herself.”
In the three days since posting her petition, Bradford has received almost 12,000 signatures. Whether that total will continue to climb remains to be seen, but the notion that Jenner should return her medal is laughable at best, horrifyingly insidious at worst.
The full text of Bradford’s petition follows:
Dear International Olympic Committee,
It has recently come to light that gold medalist Bruce Jenner is in fact transgender, and therefore, identifies as a woman. We congratulate Ms. Jenner on these new developments and wish her the best. However, this creates somewhat of a problem as Ms. Jenner (as talented as she is) claims that she has always believed herself to be truly female, and therefore, was in violation of committee rules regarding women competing in men’s sports and vice versa. Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we must ask whether or not it is proper that Ms. Jenner should retain her olympic records in light of this, as we must now either claim that Bruce Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner are two entirely different people (which we know is not true), or that Bruce Jenner was, in fact, a woman participating in a men’s event. It is only fair to all involved that women receive their credit as champions of the Decathalon and that the men racing Ms. Jenner are not expected to compete with a superior, streamlined being such as herself.
We urge Ms. Jenner to support the transgender community by giving up the medals earned by competing against the wrong gender.
Thank you, and congratulations to Ms. Jenner for her courage!
#givebackthegold.
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