XX Day: Women target Nike over trans support with ads and activism featuring females

“As the biggest voice in all of sports, will (Nike) stand up for (young female athletes)?”

That’s the question about a dozen girls ask in a viral one-minute video shared online Thursday on the first ever XX Day, in an attempt to draw attention to the plight of biological females increasingly forced to compete in sports against males who identify as females.

Oct. 10 is recognized by some as the International Women’s Day of Visibility, but former NCAA swimmer and women’s sports activist Riley Gaines dubbed it XX Day, promoting it as a way to celebrate “real” – or biological – women.

The Nike-targeted ad pushes back against the shoe giant’s support of transgender athletes.

The ad, titled “Dear Nike,” includes several young female athletes who speak directly to the camera. 

“Why won’t you stand up for me? Why won’t you?” the girls say, in turn. “Why do you claim to support women and girls? Yet, when we need you most, you remain silent today. Males are claiming our identity, our sports, our spaces. Men and boys are stealing opportunities, medals, trophies and our future, and it’s not fair or just. In fact, it’s often dangerous. 

“Yet you refuse to use your platform to stand up. You say you’re for social justice and progress. So why do you allow men’s rights to come before ours? 

“See, with a big platform comes an even bigger responsibility. You have a chance to do the right thing, not just do the easy thing. So, we’re asking you Nike, so we’re asking you Nike, so we’re asking you Nike: As the biggest voice in all of sports, will you stand up for me?  Will you stand up for me? Will you stand up for me? Will you stand up for me?” 

Then the ad attempts to land a heavyweight blow to the chin of the shoe retailer by riffing off the company’s famous slogan “Just Do It” in support of biological females. 

The ad concludes: “Will you? Will you? Will you just do it.” 

Gaines called the ad “powerful” and said it gave her chills.  

The ad was created by XX-XY Athletics, an athletic apparel retailer, which founder and CEO Jennifer Sey said was “created to help protect women’s sports and spaces.” 

Sey herself is a former elite gymnast on the U.S. Women’s World Championship team who isn’t afraid to tackle controversial subjects.  

She penned a book about abuses in gymnastics and took outspoken positions against the draconian measures forced on people to battle COVID-19.  

Her COVID-19 positions, she claims, cost her job as global brand president for clothing retailer Levi Strauss & Co., after 20 years with the company.  

The name “XX Day,” said Gaines, is a play on the female XX chromosomes and the 10^th day of the 10^th month, expressed in Roman numerals XX.  

During Women’s History Month, which was created by presidential proclamation, Gaines said that she noticed corporate brands ESPN and Hershey, the chocolate company, didn’t highlight biological women.  

“I noticed a common theme, and that theme was that in places where we were supposed to be honoring trailblazing women, we were honoring men who were claiming the identity of a woman,” said Gaines.  

She said a number of corporations she approached to help promote XX Day as a way to honor biological women declined to help, saying the idea was “too controversial.”  

But apparently XX-XY Athletics listened, as did others. 

“Today we celebrate Real Women’s Day with @Riley_Gaines_!,” posted the Independent Women’s Forum on X. “October 10th, or XX, is a day to remember the need to stand with women & protect female-only sports & spaces. XX≠XY!”  

Writer J.K. Rowling also promoted XX Day, as did U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee. 

“I’m abroad and have literally no red clothes with me, so it’ll have to be a throwback with red lipstick! #Women’sDayOfVisibility #10.10 #XX,” Rowling said on X. 

The Nike-targeted ad comes as the pushback against transgender participation in sports has gained more momentum. 

Four college volleyball teams forfeited matches against San Jose State’s women’s volleyball team for safety concerns over its biological male athlete who is transgender. 

This week, the Board of Regents in Georgia, which represents 26 state colleges and universities, sent a letter to the NCAA asking the college sports governing authority to stop allowing transgendered men to compete against biological females. 

Last month, a girls’ field hockey team in Massachusetts forfeited a game against a team with a biological male, citing safety concerns for female athletes, reported The Lion.