Ana Peleteiro condemned the harassment on social networks after her controversial statements about trans people in professional sports

Ana Peleteiro opened a melon that caused great controversy. The Galician athlete gave her opinion on the participation of transsexual athletes in professional competitions. If Peleteiro is characteristic in any way, it is that he does not mince words when it comes to quibbling about any topic. And so it was when she was asked about the matter and she firmly confirmed it they should not participate in professional competitions. “I have trans friends, I think about what they suffer to show how they feel and have my support, but the issue of sports competition is delicate. If you mature as a man, even if your testosterone levels drop, your bone density and muscle development are different than other women. In athletics, women jump 15 meters and above, and men 18 meters and above. Doors must be opened for trans people, but in non-professional sports,” said Peleteiro in an interview with now.

His response caused some blisters Alba Palacios, transgender soccer player, to which he did not hesitate to answer. “It’s a disservice to human rights, not just trans rights. I don’t understand that I can only play non-professional sports. How far does a trans woman jump? I don’t know if Ana can answer that, I don’t know if there is a case. When you talk about trans people in sports and you see the percentage of trans people in top competitions, it’s ridiculous. It’s creating a bubble out of something that what it does is that if a transgender person wants to participate in sports, they are denied. They directly say no, not knowing their case. If they transitioned before or after puberty, if they played sports before… I know trans women who transitioned after puberty and you see them and you know that if they’re going to play soccer or run, they won’t be able to do it. level of competition. I see a lot of hatred, a lot of fear, and when there is fear, there is also rejection because they don’t know what is there. Banning trans people from competing just for the sake of it seems like an aberration to me,” Palacios replied.

But Ana Peleteiro, recently involved in the international competition after becoming a mother last December, also wanted to talk about another controversial topic such as racism. “I don’t think we are a racist country, but a class country. Nobody misbehaves with a black man in a Bugatti. People who say that on the football field probably have nothing against a racial person off it. There will be insults, I’m very sorry and I think it should be arranged that racist insults are always punished in sports facilities. I get racism every day on Twitter, but hardly anyone will insult you on the street. For me, racism is ignorance. I was lucky to meet people of many races and cultures and because of that, for example, my concept of the Muslim people is now different from what I could have had before,” explained the athlete from Ribeira.

He also covered songs like Mental health. A taboo that seems to be growing bit by bit in the sports world, although not in all areas. “Football is not talked about because it is believed to be a macho sport and macho men do not go to therapy because they think they are fragile. These are troglodyte thoughts because a psychologist can help a gatekeeper who has a blockage at a certain moment. What’s the problem? Athletes appear on television, people watch us, and it is important to give a good, healthy message, within a society that is very unhealthy, in which we only see lies and posturing on the networks,” Galičanin said.

Attacks on social networks

The opinions of the Galician athlete were used by some of her detractors to attack her on social networks. It was Peleteiro herself who recounted the “harassment” she had been exposed to in recent days and was therefore forced to publish a statement in which she admits that “for several days now I have been receiving enormous harassment for the networks. Countless people who insult me, wish me death, wish my families and even hate messages asking God to hopefully break my leg or any serious injury that will keep me off the slopes,” says the Galician.

On the topic of the participation of trans people in sports, Ana Peleteiro pointed out that “I adore and respect the LGTBI collective 100%, I have friends and even family members who belong to it. I will always defend and fight every day for their rights, just as I do for the rights of CIS women. Therefore, in the case of sports, of course I have to defend the rights of CIS women. This does not mean that I hate trans women or that I do not want their situation to be regulated in some way, but of course I will never be in favor of women having to compete with people who are genetically superior to us in order for this to happen. And this is not what Ana Peleteiro says, but the International Athletics Federation, which after years of research concludes that, no matter how much a man reduces his testosterone level, he will never be the same as a woman, because his maturation as such includes morphological, bone changes and many levels that cannot be changed regardless of medication,” he points out.

Ultimately, the solution for the Galician athlete involves “adjusting the category so that we all compete on equal terms or to participate in non-federated sports, since that is unfair, no matter which way you look at it.”

At the end of her statement, Ana Peleteiro makes it clear: “I sweat and fight for my rights as a woman and for those millions of athletes who think the same as me, but because of the public trial they are afraid to open their mouths.” So this is not an ideological or transphobic issue.”

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION pic.twitter.com/VwAnhEu4Ea

— ANA PELETEIRO BRIÓN (@apeleteirob) June 28, 2023