Perhaps there's an argument for letting trans-women who have aged out of competition for the men can be argued to be on an equal playingfield with biological women; but, the activists don't want it to stop there.
I know a little bit about how people's minds work when there's a first time and a polarizing figure entering a familiar space. Surely, the activists supporting Hubbard realized the political pickle it would put them in if Hubbard, a 43 year-old, demolished the competition with women half that age and at their physical peaks. I've also gotta imagine that the activists are relishing in Hubbard's failure because, at a paper thin level, it seems to make their point that trans-women don't have an unfair advantage.
Since I'm still on the side that Hubbard shouldn't have been allowed to compete against the women in that sport, I think a few things are important to point out in terms of reality.
Hubbard was a decent run before transitioning; but, didn't compete from 2001 to 2012 until after transition. So, this isn't just a 43 year-old competing against 23 year-olds, this is a 43 year-old who spent ten years out of competition.
After transitioning, Hubbard won a slew of gold medals in lesser competitions than the Olympics (that's not a slight on those competitions; it's just that every level is lower than the Olympics). Namely, Hubbard was demolishing the biologically female competition.
When you're talking about even qualifying for the Olympics, you're talking about people who are at least in the top half of the top one percent in the world at the sport.
Namely, a person who never competed internationally as a man, by simply qualifying, showed that an over-the-hill trans-weightlifter could beat 99.5% of women in the weight class.
As I said before, Hubbard isn't where the activists will want this push to stop. We're living in a world where you get ridiculed if you don't lie and call Serena Williams "The greatest tennis player of all time." rather than telling the truth that, "She's the greatest female tennis player of all time." A lot of very big voices want us to live in a fantasy land where everything is simply a social construct that we can change through activism and that's there's no significant physical difference between the sexes.
Hubbard made the lifts at the age of 34 that were missed at the age of 43. If we saw 34 year-old Hubbard competing yesterday, the story wouldn't have been about a 43 year-old trans-woman washing out; it would of been about a 34 year-old trans-woman beating a lot of 20 year-old biological women.
Finally, the debate has been skewed, sadly mostly by people on my side, to the idea that the moment a trans-woman starts competing with women that the Trans-woman will immediately start breaking all the women's records or worse, their skulls. Although that has been the case at times, the examples of trans-athletes being beaten by biological women don't prove that much. If I transitioned and tried to compete in Women's MMA, I'd get busted up in a second.
This isn't about women losing their good medals. This is about women losing their shots to compete on the world stage or losing scholarships.
Hubbard didn't win gold. What we know is that there's a young woman in New Zealand who lost her shot.