The issue of transgender male-to-female athletes competing in women’s events has escalated in recent months due to the increase in participation of biological males in some high-profile events, including qualifying events for the Olympics. One such athlete is Laurel Hubbard, a biological male who identifies as a female, and who has dominated multiple women’s weightlifting events, recently taking home two golds and a silver in three women’s heavyweight events at the the Pacific Games last summer.
On Wednesday, former CNN host and current “Good Morning Britain” host Piers Morgan responded to reports on Hubbard competing for the International Weightlifting Federation Australian Weightlifting Open in Canberra, Australia, in hopes of qualifying for the Tokyo Games. Morgan’s initial tweet and follow-up posts promptly gained international attention, appearing in multiple reports on multiple continents.
Morgan’s transgender-themed tweets began with a response to a post by Dr. James Kent, who tweeted out images of Hubbard in competitions and wrote: “New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard clinches two gold medals. Obliterated the rest of the female field. Olympics might be denied in Tokyo.”
“This is insane. Women’s rights to basic fairness & equality are getting destroyed at the altar of political correctness,” Morgan responded (posts below).
Among a flood of responses to Morgan’s “insane” post, one responder wrote: “I agree. And what exactly is this doing for women’s sport? There’s very little data on transitioned strength athletes. And at least until there are more studies on the impact a sex change has on a male body, I am sceptical about what should be allowed in women’s sport.”
That elicited another post by Morgan, who offered a “rather obvious fact” about transgender male-to-female athletes: “Trans women born with biological male bodies have a massive physical advantage against women born with female bodies in any sport where power & strength are significant factors. This shouldn’t be a contentious claim, it’s just a rather obvious fact.”
Along with many people expressing agreement with his statements, Morgan’s posts were also met with strong backlash from LGBT advocates. The television personality in turn pushed back a few times.
“I’m not transphobic & have always supported transgender rights. So why are you encouraging this hate just for clicks?” he wrote in response to a post by British LGBT Awards criticizing him.
“It’s not ‘transphobic’ to believe it is grotesquely unfair for transgender women born with male biological bodies to compete in sports like weightlifting against women born with female biological bodies. It’s common sense. Transgender rights shouldn’t damage women’s rights,” Morgan wrote in another response.
This is insane. Women’s rights to basic fairness & equality are getting destroyed at the altar of political correctness. https://t.co/XnlGNmdVV4
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 26, 2020
Trans women born with biological male bodies have a massive physical advantage against women born with female bodies in any sport where power & strength are significant factors. This shouldn’t be a contentious claim, it’s just a rather obvious fact. https://t.co/FQ5xfFMwN4
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 26, 2020
I’m not transphobic & have always supported transgender rights. So why are you encouraging this hate just for clicks? #BeKind https://t.co/VvsYrSo9im
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 28, 2020
It's not 'transphobic' to believe it is grotesquely unfair for transgender women born with male biological bodies to compete in sports like weightlifting against women born with female biological bodies.
It's common sense.
Transgender rights shouldn't damage women's rights. https://t.co/L0GRN9Yrnt— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) February 28, 2020
Among the sites that have covered Morgan’s transgender tweets is Yahoo Sports Australia , which highlights another complaint about transgender athletes competing in women’s events voiced by a widely recognized name in Australia, former Aussie Olympian Tamsyn Lewis.
“People are scared to come out and say anything because of political correctness,” Lewis told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Wednesday. “This is an issue that’s a really difficult issue. Not even the IOC can come to the proper guidelines. It is politically charged and it’s a sensitive topic [but] if we don’t make a stand, what’s going to happen to that female category of sport?”
“And considering that Olympic competition is all about fairness,” said the host. “All about a level playing field, why don’t they understand that this is just not fair? That is the great fear here. It’s not about discouraging transgender athletes, it’s about encouraging female athletes.”