I remember thinking "why are these views not being challenged in the copy?" when first reading Sophie Cunningham's comments in an ESPN profile last month.
The story dealt with Cunningham's status as a 3-and-D player who toes the line between effective and reckless in her aggression on the court. Buried deep in the story is a quote where she says she does not oppose trans people but "I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
My friend and fellow journalist Frankie de la Cretaz sent me the profile lamenting that this quote was left to stand on its own, without any context. Leaving it unchallenged validated Cunningham's claim that trans women are "biological men," and that trans women were harming girls in women's sports. There is no evidence of either claim.
The changes trans athletes go through with hormone replacement therapy as part of medical transition are complex. But they rewire a body to match the ******* a trans person identifies with. That's why organizations let them participate in sports consistent with their identity once they have reached a certain hormonal threshold.
There were nevertheless very few trans elite athletes, because there are very few elite athletes in general. After the Olympics allowed trans women to compete alongside women for the 2004 games in Athens, only one transgender woman has made it since: weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, at Tokyo in 2021. She failed to complete a single lift.
#profile #young #claim
The story dealt with Cunningham's status as a 3-and-D player who toes the line between effective and reckless in her aggression on the court. Buried deep in the story is a quote where she says she does not oppose trans people but "I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
My friend and fellow journalist Frankie de la Cretaz sent me the profile lamenting that this quote was left to stand on its own, without any context. Leaving it unchallenged validated Cunningham's claim that trans women are "biological men," and that trans women were harming girls in women's sports. There is no evidence of either claim.
The changes trans athletes go through with hormone replacement therapy as part of medical transition are complex. But they rewire a body to match the ******* a trans person identifies with. That's why organizations let them participate in sports consistent with their identity once they have reached a certain hormonal threshold.
There were nevertheless very few trans elite athletes, because there are very few elite athletes in general. After the Olympics allowed trans women to compete alongside women for the 2004 games in Athens, only one transgender woman has made it since: weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, at Tokyo in 2021. She failed to complete a single lift.
#profile #young #claim
16 days ago
