NPR had a similar article. It also spotlighted a female-to-male trans athlete who participated in the Olympic long distance running trials some years ago. That person also would not be affected by the EO. The mainstream press has intentionally miscast the EO by refusing to interview any of the female athletes who advocated for it — many of whom were present at the signing.
Thank you Sarah for your extremely well-written and pointed response to Steve Karnowski’s egregiously one-sided whining about the poor males who are demanding to compete against females. You really took his badly-written and researched article apart point by point and made one wonder how such a sloppy writer can write for the AP! The NY Times has yet another article today about two trans male to female high school athletes who are so “brave” as to sue over the trump EO, and as usual with the NYT with absolutely so interviews or discussion with female athletes who are displaced by males. What they do not understand when they whine about the small numbers of trans people we even know about invading female spaces and sports is that if even ONE female loses her place on a team, on a podium or in the record books that is ONE TOO MANY. So thank you!
The issue of Trans athlete competing in sports is a losing issue and, in my opinion, wrong.
I was involved in coaching youth soccer for over 20 years and have coached both young boys and girls. At an early age there is not much difference. Yes, the boys are a little bigger, but the girls are more skillful and can be just as rough. When you get into high school and college there is a significant difference in how young women and men play sports. Men are stronger, faster and bigger.
If there were not physical difference between the sexes, then there wouldn't be women and men's sports.
Let's face it. The answer to every one of your questions is because THAT journalist, like most AP, NYT, NPR and other so called "news reporters" are anything but. They are literally paid to lie.
It breaks my heart that a good journalist like you gets cheated out of big viewership. You're stuck screaming into the wind. Please don't ever give up.
Excellent post. Even just one male on a female team can affect dozens, if not hundreds of females. I would love to see someone tally up all of the damage caused by Will Thomas in just one season. How many women were displaced in events by him and unable to progress to the next round because of him? How many total sex crimes of voyeurism and exhibitionism did he commit? I'm sure the numbers would be staggering.
As a middle school coach, I had to take all those courses on sexual harassment. Which was a joke because the private school where I coached made very sure I was "on the same page" about allowing kids to participate in sports according to their gender identity. They required that, as a coach, I accept males in the female locker rooms and sports, which those courses taught me is sexual harassment.
Oof! Great piece. I don’t know how he can sleep at night. It particularly shows the problem with using the word ‘trans’. ‘Trans’ means male AND female: it means literally anyone. So that’s slippery, and the same with ‘gender’ that means sex AND gender or gender identity or stereotypes so that’s slippery too.
It is very concerning when they excuse males in female sports because it appears to be very small in number. The repercussions of the issue is not only about who is on a female NCAA team. When the only criteria is if you say you are female then that’s what you are. There are numerous incidents beyond the NCAA where girls and women are shoved aside. Female athletes without their consent are assigned to male roommates when competing out of town or in a sport specific dorm situation. The UN has declared males in women’s sports to be violence against women.
Will Thomas had years of white male privilege including going to an elite Ivy League school and three unimpressive years on the men’s team. His privilege would include years of good coaching opportunities. He changes his name to Lia and voila he gets to enter girls locker rooms, walk around fully intact and unclothed, set records and win races. He ties in a race with Reilly Gaines from a public university. He gets the trophy, she is told to shut up and the female swimmers who objected were not allowed to speak out. They could lose their place on the team and scholarships. They were also frequently required to attend diversity education sessions (reeducation?) after actually being thrown under the bus. Females, especially from conservative religious backgrounds were no longer comfortable or able to participate in sports due to the ability of males to self I’d and participate at will. So much for supporting women. Reilly Gaines did not shut up neither has the tennis legend Martina Navratilova.
The world is not flat, we landed on the moon, evolution is real, and a man is not a woman.
This one race profoundly impacted numerous female athletes so the trope of “only a few” is meaningless and offensive.
This is one of the most brilliant pieces I have read. You are gold. Yes, if journalists had just used correct language, we would not be here. Thank you.
BRAVA! Great letter and impeccable logic. Thank you.
Coincidentally, I also just posted a letter on this topic, in my case to a theater company in Baltimore. Everyone has jumped on the trans bandwagon, and though I will continue to fight, I just don't see how we'll ever put this genie back in the bottle (please excuse my mixed metaphors).
Trans-identified females are barred from competing on women's teams if they are taking testosterone because it's a performance enhancing substance. You see the hypocrisy of allowing males who have enjoyed a lifetime of anatomical and physiological T-driven advantages to compete in the female category. And to your question of trans-identified females using testosterone—to my knowledge there is no monitoring of that, certainly not in high school, and probably not in collegiate sports either. It's strictly honor system, that that person would willingly reveal that she is taking T. In a previous post, I talked with a researcher from Japan who said trans-identified females who took T and nonetheless played soccer on women's teams was a big problem, https://www.thefemalecategory.com/p/change-in-competitive-rank-when-trans
They don’t. Most sports don’t permit the use of steroids, so they can’t take them. The only professional athlete I’m aware of is Canadian soccer player Quinn, formerly Rebecca Quinn, who plays in the NWSL and on Canada’s national team. She had a mastectomy and wears short hair so appears androgynous, but doesn’t take testosterone.
NPR had a similar article. It also spotlighted a female-to-male trans athlete who participated in the Olympic long distance running trials some years ago. That person also would not be affected by the EO. The mainstream press has intentionally miscast the EO by refusing to interview any of the female athletes who advocated for it — many of whom were present at the signing.
Thank you Sarah for your extremely well-written and pointed response to Steve Karnowski’s egregiously one-sided whining about the poor males who are demanding to compete against females. You really took his badly-written and researched article apart point by point and made one wonder how such a sloppy writer can write for the AP! The NY Times has yet another article today about two trans male to female high school athletes who are so “brave” as to sue over the trump EO, and as usual with the NYT with absolutely so interviews or discussion with female athletes who are displaced by males. What they do not understand when they whine about the small numbers of trans people we even know about invading female spaces and sports is that if even ONE female loses her place on a team, on a podium or in the record books that is ONE TOO MANY. So thank you!
I found the article. Top rated comment:
The issue of Trans athlete competing in sports is a losing issue and, in my opinion, wrong.
I was involved in coaching youth soccer for over 20 years and have coached both young boys and girls. At an early age there is not much difference. Yes, the boys are a little bigger, but the girls are more skillful and can be just as rough. When you get into high school and college there is a significant difference in how young women and men play sports. Men are stronger, faster and bigger.
If there were not physical difference between the sexes, then there wouldn't be women and men's sports.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/12/us/trump-trans-girls-women-sports.html
https://archive.ph/vWywa
Let's face it. The answer to every one of your questions is because THAT journalist, like most AP, NYT, NPR and other so called "news reporters" are anything but. They are literally paid to lie.
It breaks my heart that a good journalist like you gets cheated out of big viewership. You're stuck screaming into the wind. Please don't ever give up.
Excellent post. Even just one male on a female team can affect dozens, if not hundreds of females. I would love to see someone tally up all of the damage caused by Will Thomas in just one season. How many women were displaced in events by him and unable to progress to the next round because of him? How many total sex crimes of voyeurism and exhibitionism did he commit? I'm sure the numbers would be staggering.
As a middle school coach, I had to take all those courses on sexual harassment. Which was a joke because the private school where I coached made very sure I was "on the same page" about allowing kids to participate in sports according to their gender identity. They required that, as a coach, I accept males in the female locker rooms and sports, which those courses taught me is sexual harassment.
To your point of the number of women affected by one male, please read George Perry's outstanding piece, https://www.thefemalecategory.com/p/blast-radius-male-womens-sports
Oof! Great piece. I don’t know how he can sleep at night. It particularly shows the problem with using the word ‘trans’. ‘Trans’ means male AND female: it means literally anyone. So that’s slippery, and the same with ‘gender’ that means sex AND gender or gender identity or stereotypes so that’s slippery too.
That's why I refuse to use "gender" unless I'm talking about language. Nouns and adjectives in many languages have a gender; human beings don't.
It is very concerning when they excuse males in female sports because it appears to be very small in number. The repercussions of the issue is not only about who is on a female NCAA team. When the only criteria is if you say you are female then that’s what you are. There are numerous incidents beyond the NCAA where girls and women are shoved aside. Female athletes without their consent are assigned to male roommates when competing out of town or in a sport specific dorm situation. The UN has declared males in women’s sports to be violence against women.
Will Thomas had years of white male privilege including going to an elite Ivy League school and three unimpressive years on the men’s team. His privilege would include years of good coaching opportunities. He changes his name to Lia and voila he gets to enter girls locker rooms, walk around fully intact and unclothed, set records and win races. He ties in a race with Reilly Gaines from a public university. He gets the trophy, she is told to shut up and the female swimmers who objected were not allowed to speak out. They could lose their place on the team and scholarships. They were also frequently required to attend diversity education sessions (reeducation?) after actually being thrown under the bus. Females, especially from conservative religious backgrounds were no longer comfortable or able to participate in sports due to the ability of males to self I’d and participate at will. So much for supporting women. Reilly Gaines did not shut up neither has the tennis legend Martina Navratilova.
The world is not flat, we landed on the moon, evolution is real, and a man is not a woman.
This one race profoundly impacted numerous female athletes so the trope of “only a few” is meaningless and offensive.
I am waiting for you yo post his reply - but am not holding my breath.
This is one of the most brilliant pieces I have read. You are gold. Yes, if journalists had just used correct language, we would not be here. Thank you.
"Steve did not respond."
There's a shock.
BRAVA! Great letter and impeccable logic. Thank you.
Coincidentally, I also just posted a letter on this topic, in my case to a theater company in Baltimore. Everyone has jumped on the trans bandwagon, and though I will continue to fight, I just don't see how we'll ever put this genie back in the bottle (please excuse my mixed metaphors).
What happens with trans identified females who are taking testosterone, a.k.a. a banned steroid, if they compete in female sports?
Trans-identified females are barred from competing on women's teams if they are taking testosterone because it's a performance enhancing substance. You see the hypocrisy of allowing males who have enjoyed a lifetime of anatomical and physiological T-driven advantages to compete in the female category. And to your question of trans-identified females using testosterone—to my knowledge there is no monitoring of that, certainly not in high school, and probably not in collegiate sports either. It's strictly honor system, that that person would willingly reveal that she is taking T. In a previous post, I talked with a researcher from Japan who said trans-identified females who took T and nonetheless played soccer on women's teams was a big problem, https://www.thefemalecategory.com/p/change-in-competitive-rank-when-trans
They don’t. Most sports don’t permit the use of steroids, so they can’t take them. The only professional athlete I’m aware of is Canadian soccer player Quinn, formerly Rebecca Quinn, who plays in the NWSL and on Canada’s national team. She had a mastectomy and wears short hair so appears androgynous, but doesn’t take testosterone.