An ex Olympic weightlifter has been praised on social media for her take on transgender women competing in sports.
Per Indy100, Laura Mariel, who competed four times in national weightlifting competitions in the US, took to TikTok earlier this week to share her thoughts on the controversial issue.
When asked about what she thought on the subject by another TikTok user, Mariel was quick to share her two cents.
"I think a lot of people use this question as an excuse for their bigotry," she said. "A lot of people that are concerned about transgender women in sports have not given a flying f*** about me as a female athlete."
"You don't care about the inequalities in opportunities, in pay, in airtime... You don't care about the blatant misogyny that still exists within sports today," she added.
Mariel added:
"Basically, people who have not cared one bit about my wellbeing as a female athlete, and are probably the same people who have bullied me, are now concerned about my competitive opportunities as a female athlete because of transgender women."
On Twitter, a number of social media users have praised Mariel's attitude as empathetic and understanding, and have agreed with her assessment on the hot button topic.
One wrote: "To everyone saying she didn't answer the question: most people asking this question want their biases against transgender people confirmed, not corrected.
"There is no actual answer that will satisfy their curiosity because they don't actually want an answer. It's a talking point."
Meanwhile, another added: "I have long made this point. It is amazing how so many people claim to care about women’s sports when it comes to transgender athletes.
"But they never care enough to campaign for equal pay or support women’s sports by watching in greater numbers. Odd."
While a third wrote: "I'll be honest, this is outside of my usual concerns. I had no real opinion on the subject at all, but this has opened my eyes!
"Fantastically put across and I will be using everything she said in any conversations on this topic I may have in the future."
This debate comes in the wake of transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard representing New Zealand in this year's Olympics in the women's weightlifting team.
Per Reuters, the IOC confirmed that Hubbard, who was assigned as male at birth but who came out as transgender back in 2013, would be able to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in an official statement issued on Saturday, July 17.
Commenting on the decision in an official press conference, IOC chief Thomas Bach stated: "The IOC is in an inquiry phase with all different stakeholders… to review these rules and finally to come up with some guidelines.
"The rules are in place and the rules have to be applied and you cannot change the rules during an ongoing qualification system. This is what all the athletes of the world are relying on: that the rules are being applied."