More female athletes speaking out, pushing back against unfair trans policies

Women are no longer suffering in silence as transgender-identifying males dominate their sports but are instead speaking out and pushing back.

“There has absolutely been a shift in women’s willingness to stand up against male athletes in women’s sports,” Kim Jones, a former NCAA women’s tennis All-American and co-founder of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports, told The Lion. “Women, girls, and the men that care about them are all standing up far more boldly.”

Recent viral incidents include a fencer taking a knee and a disc golfer walking off the course rather than facing male opponents.

Some of the resistance started three years ago when William “Lia” Thomas won an NCAA Division I championship in women’s swimming, prompting fellow All-American swimmer Riley Gaines to speak out against him. Gaines tied Thomas for fifth in a different event at the same championship meet.

“Lia Thomas catapulted the issue of men in women’s sports into the public eye and ever since there has been an increasing awareness of the struggles facing women and girls,” Jones said. “The public was never going to accept men creating a public humiliation ritual for female athletes.” 

But the political climate at the time meant it was going to be an uphill fight. 

During the Biden administration, women’s sports advocates knew the government wouldn’t do anything to correct the problem, Jones said, so they needed to find more creative ways to get their message to the American public in hopes these policies would someday change. 

“As we learned that letters and quiet conversation were falling on deaf ears within the Biden administration and governing bodies, we realized that we had to take the conversations public,” she said. 

But now that the tide has turned, “boycotts with press release statements from volleyball teams, lawsuits, and recorded personal stances that go viral like Stephanie Turner in fencing and Abigail Wilson in disc golf are all going to increase in scale and visibility until this situation is remedied.” 

Turner, 31, took a knee and refused to compete against Redmond Sullivan, a male who previously fenced against men, at a USA Fencing tournament last month, disqualifying herself and creating a viral image that impacted women around the globe. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, followed her bold move by informing USA Fencing it may lose its status as a governing body or its authority to set rules for the sport as a whole. Cruz plans to use his position as chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to investigate the organization for Title IX violations. 

Just days later, Wilson, a women’s professional disc golfer, refused to compete against a transgender opponent in a tournament in Nashville. She faked a throw and addressed the crowd, shouting, “Females must be protected in our division. This is unfair. I refuse to play,” as onlookers cheered. 

Protestors are also getting involved.  

Two days after Wilson’s action, a women’s billiards championship match in England featured two men who identify as transgender. 

Protestors attended with signs saying, “Save women’s sport” and “He’s a man.” Others promoted solidarity with Lynne Pinches, a female who withdrew from a tournament that those two transgender athletes participated in. 

More female athletes have also spoken out in recent months. 

Former college track runner Minna Svärd penned a Wall Street Journal op-ed in March, six years after finishing second to Cece Telfer, the first man to defeat a woman for a collegiate medal.  

“Every time a male athlete enters a female competition, a woman gets cut from the roster to make room,” she wrote. “In 2019 I was the fastest female 400-meter hurdler at any NCAA Division II school … that honor was stolen from me. I want it back.” 

Perhaps emboldened by Svärd, Maine, high schooler Kessa Benner wrote a Portland Press-Herald op-ed just days later lamenting her loss in the girls’ high jump to a transgender athlete. Other Maine girls’ track athletes, including Zoe Hutchins and Cassidy Carlisle, have also spoken out against that athlete. 

Maine’s refusal to comply with the Trump administration’s rules on Title IX has resulted in millions of dollars of nonessential federal funding to be withheld from the Pine Tree State, prompting a legal battle.  

Resistance to the transgender agenda was taking place last year but has accelerated since the election of President Donald Trump. 

Multiple high school and college women’s teams forfeited matches against transgender opponents out of concerns for safety and fairness. In one incident, Collegiate Charter School of Lowell, Massachusetts, forfeited a basketball game at halftime after a male with facial hair on the other team injured three girls during the first half. 

Backlash against the opponent was so strong it cancelled its final regular season game and opted out of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association playoff tournament despite qualifying. 

Jones says the political changes and increased public dialogue mean America is now at a point where arguing in favor of males competing in women’s sports is politically toxic and indefensible. Democrats lost big in the 2024 election in part because of their insistence on allowing men in women’s sports. 

“It was simply public awareness,” Jones told The Lion. “It’s shocking that there are still politicians not reading the room when you have a huge majority of voters on both the left and the right agreeing. 

“No one was ever going to convince the public that men and boys should be playing in women and girls’ sports. This is a question of basic truth that stares the public straight in the eye, and attempting to deceive people with something so obvious undermines credibility on everything. You may as well be trying to convince people the sky isn’t blue.” 

A January New York Times poll found 79% of Americans oppose males competing in women’s sports. A few weeks later, Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to withhold funding from states, athletic bodies and school districts that allow the practice. 

The administration is currently investigating states, including Massachusetts, Minnesota, California and Oregon, after finding Maine had violated Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination. 

So far, several states and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have changed their policies to comply with the Trump administration, and 31 states now restrict the practice. Georgia will likely become the 32nd as legislation to ban it is currently on Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.