hexane-nightmares:

“Standard HRT treatment for trans women includes a testosterone blocker, usually spironolactone, and synthetic estrogen, called estradiol, which is also prescribed to cis women with hormone deficiencies and to alleviate menopause symptoms. Testosterone is by far the more powerful sex hormone, so the testosterone blocker is definitely needed; otherwise the excess estrogen would simply be swallowed by its counterpart. This is why trans women take two forms of medication for HRT while trans men just have the testosterone injections. The effects that T blockers have on trans women are astounding. Dosing typically starts small and expands over the first nine months to a year, but when the medical regime is in full effect, trans women’s T levels are typically quite lower than cis women’s. The Olympic committee now requires a full year of testing T levels below 10 ng/dL before trans women are allowed to compete as female. Without the advantage of testosterone on building muscle, trans women are stripped of any advantages they may have had as a result of once having higher testosterone levels. Yet, sadly, the assumption that trans women have said advantages is so pervasive that very little scientific research has been done to look into it. What’s presented as common sense, in fact, has very little factual basis in science for a crowd that likes to preach biological essentialism.”

— No, Female Trans Athletes Do Not Have Unfair Advantages | Katelyn Burns for The Establishment 
(via gaywrites)