I made it through about 2/3 of this thread a few days ago and haven't finished it but might in the next day or two. For now, I just want to say thank you to Ross Tucker for providing some very reasonable opinions (as did several other people, but you put so much effort into explaining your position). I was flabbergasted by how many people seemed to think you were arguing that the current situation is ideal, which you clearly weren't.
I was also flabbergasted to see how many people think sex is completely black and white. For 99.9% of people, it is, but there are cases with gray area. The ceaseless cries of "HE'S A MAN, PERIOD" are barking up the wrong tree. Your breakdown of the different aspects of sex/gender was particularly outstanding in my opinion (the difference between chromosomal, anatomical, cultural sex/gender, as well as a potentially new class of "athletic sex/gender."
Sex and gender ARE two distinct concepts. You can choose not to believe in gender and you can choose to believe that sex and gender "should" be one and the same, but the fact is they refer to different things. People take great comfort in rigid thinking - myself included - but this is a case where rigid thinking falls short of fully explaining the situation.
I have a great deal of compassion for Semenya, and I fear that the CAS just got it wrong this time. I would love for Semenya to be able to compete, but it seems clear that, due to being born intersex, she has a strong advantage that is going to hurt the integrity of the women's division. My personal approach going forward is to maintain respect and compassion for Semenya while lamenting that there are going to be some growing pains in our sport and our culture as this plays out. And that's what I plan to do - let it play out for a while and trust that people will realize that an alternative method (hormone requirements, competing with men, or a third division) must be considered.
Two final thoughts:
1. life isn't fair, unfortunately. Semenya might end up taking gold from other women who don't have her advantage, and she herself might find herself without a home in the world of elite track and field shortly thereafter. It's a bummer.
2. Pamela Jelimo came out of nowhere and was significantly faster than Semenya and, from what I remember, wasn't subject to NEARLY as much criticism. Obviously, the intersex situation is a lot more triggering than even the hot-button topic of doping, but I'm surprised that she was able to actually win Olympic gold (which Semenya hasn't done yet) and run times close to Kratochvilova and no one seemed to care that much.