ESPN’s Samantha Ponder fired back and said “biology isn’t bigotry” after a sports columnist slammed her as a bigot for stating that men shouldn’t be competing in women’s sports.
The sports broadcaster’s comments were labeled “plain old bigotry” by USA Today columnist Nancy Armour, who became upset with Ponder for defending women and supporting female swimming champion Riley Gaines, who has advocated for banning men from women’s sports, Fox News reported.
“Biology is not bigotry,” Ponder tweeted on Thursday. “Loving people does not require the absence of boundaries.”
The post has since gone viral with 1.9 million views as of publication.
Biology is not bigotry. Loving people does not require the absence of boundaries.
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 31, 2023
The sports broadcaster previously retweeted a post from Gaines, who shared text messages she’s received from female athletes in California who “feel helpless” competing against trans-identifying males in track and field.
In the original post, the former swimming champion — who was deprived of an NCAA award by trans-identifying male swimmer Lia Thomas — said she’s heard from girls who were defeated by a trans-identifying male runner who took first place in a female sectional Meet of Champions and is now headed to the state championships.
In response, Ponder tweeted that it’s not “hateful” to demand “fairness in sports for girls.”
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“I barely said anything publicly about this issue & I’ve had so many people message me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories about girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful,” the ESPN broadcaster wrote. “It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls.”
I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls https://t.co/teNoMDWNW4
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 25, 2023
In the USA Today piece, Armour wrote, “Don’t be fooled by the people who screech about ‘fairness’ to cloak their bigotry toward transgender girls and women, the transgender girls and women who have the audacity to want to play sports, in particular.”
“This is, and always was, about hate, fear and ignorance,” the columnist added, before coming after the ESPN host for tweeting against President Joe Biden’s proposed changes to Title IX that would prevent banning trans-identifying males from competing in women’s sports.