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President Donald Trump revealed plans this week for a new nationwide athletic competition dubbed the “Patriot Games,” a four-day event set for next year that will feature elite high school athletes from every state and U.S. territory. The announcement came alongside the launch of &#8220;Freedom,&#8221; an organization tasked with coordinating celebrations marking the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
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According to Trump, the Patriot Games will bring together two standout athletes from each state — one male and one female — to compete in a slate of sporting events designed to showcase excellence, patriotism, and fair competition. The president framed the event as both historic and culturally significant, emphasizing that it would reflect his administration’s broader push to protect women’s sports.
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Trump said in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxdWW2CiB_8">video announcement</a>: “Frankly, you&#8217;ll never see anything like it, and you&#8217;ll never see anything like it again. In the fall, we will host the first-ever Patriot Games, an unprecedented four-day athletic event featuring the greatest high school athletes, one young man and one young woman from each state and territory. But I promise there will be no men playing in women&#8217;s sports. You&#8217;re not going to see that. You&#8217;ll see everything but that.”
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The comments echo Trump’s long-standing opposition to allowing biological males to compete in female athletic divisions, an issue that has become a defining cultural flashpoint. His administration has repeatedly moved to restrict transgender-identifying men from competing in women’s sports.
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The Patriot Games will be part of a larger slate of events planned to commemorate the nation’s milestone anniversary. As The Hill <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/5655553-trump-patriot-games-2026/">reported,</a> those celebrations will also include a “Great American State Fair” on the National Mall featuring exhibits from all 50 states, scheduled from June through July; a major Independence Day celebration complete with fireworks and a military flyover; and a high-profile Ultimate Fighting Championship event slated to take place at the White House.
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Trump said the festivities are meant to be both celebratory and unifying. “People are going to have a good time,” he said, noting that recent events honoring the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps anniversaries were just the beginning.
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With the Patriot Games, Trump is pitching a blend of athletic competition, national pride, and cultural clarity — positioning the event as a one-of-a-kind spectacle that aligns sports with what he describes as common-sense American values.
Trump’s announcement quickly drew loose comparisons to The Hunger Games, a dystopian novel set in a future America where the government forces young people from different districts into a televised fight to the death until only one survives.
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President Trump Signs Executive Order Reclassifying Marijuana As Low Risk Drug

Trump Launches ‘Patriot Games’ To Showcase Top High School Athletes From Every State

Donald Trump

Executive

High School

Politics

Women's sports

For some states, getting men out of women&#8217;s sports has more hurdles to clear than a track meet.
Take Colorado, which allows transgender-identifying boys to compete in girls’ sports in the name of protecting people’s “sexual identity.&#8221;
But that could soon change.
Colorado School District 49, located just outside of Colorado Springs, is leading a coalition of seven other districts that are challenging the law. The districts filed suit in May against the Colorado Civil Rights Division, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, the Colorado Attorney General, and the Colorado High School Activities Association.
Last week, the Colorado High School Activities Association settled with the plaintiffs, a major victory for girls’ sports.
District 49 felt a lawsuit was necessary after it <a href="https://go.boarddocs.com/co/d49/Board.nsf/files/DG6NV961B96D/$file/JBA-%20Preserving%20%20Fairness%20and%20Safety%20in%20Sports%20(1).pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adopted rules</a> last year requiring all school sports teams to be divided by biological sex. District 49 Superintendent Peter Hilts, said he made clear rules on biology for his school district after he noticed more incidents of men trying to compete as women around the country. District 49 filed their lawsuit May 9, 2025, to protect the district from any penalties brought on by Colorado’s sports governing body.
&#8220;I would never want my daughters to compete against a boy; that would be unfair,&#8221; Hilts told The Daily Wire.
The settlement with the association takes the Colorado High School Activities Association out of the lawsuit ongoing in Colorado federal court, and gives the eight districts protection from the association.
The <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-wCHCb3a08XDl8FkBAtPeOuuccyWn9yv4oL7bUO-_7E/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.onkuqxh2a5uu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">association&#8217;s bylaws</a> state that &#8220;member schools shall ensure that all students have equal access and opportunities to participate in activities and athletics without unlawful discrimination based on disability, race, creed, color, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, or ancestry.&#8221;
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t want a state agency to sanction our coaches or our student-athletes for advocating privacy, fairness, and dignity.&#8221;
Hilts says the settlement is a win for common sense.
&#8220;Before the settlement, they would have to self-censor, or worry about what would happen if they spoke out about men competing in women’s sports,” Hilts said. “The association could have taken action against coaches. They could have said coaches and athletes were being unsportsmanlike. They could have banned teams from postseason play, and they could have disqualified athletes from championships.”
The Colorado High School Activities Association told The Daily Wire it has &#8220;has never penalized a school or district for its policies on this issue, nor has it dictated what those policies should be.&#8221;
“At no point before filing this lawsuit did the plaintiffs engage in any dialogue with CHSAA,” a spokesman told The Daily Wire. “No outreach was made to inquire about our policies, our procedures, or the steps we had already taken to support schools navigating these issues.”
“This litigation consumed time and resources without producing any change to how CHSAA operates,” the spokesman continued, adding that “The settlement alters nothing about our policies, our practices, or our authority.”
The lead attorney representing School District 49, Michael Francisco, told The Daily Wire he hopes this settlement will encourage other districts to adopt policies that protect the integrity of sport.
&#8220;To our mind, CHSAA’s decision to settle leaves it to Colorado districts as to whether they want to adopt a policy governing biological sex in sports like the plaintiff districts,&#8221; Francisco said.
Hilts hopes a victory in federal court will result in President Trump’s <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">executive order</a> keeping men out of women’s sports being reflected in Colorado’s laws.
&#8220;We observed that under the Trump administration, the interpretation of Title IX created a contrast between state and federal law,” he said. “Colorado law gives precedence to gender identity, but Title IX was designed to give priority to biological sex. We think the state has been overly accommodating of the minority of individuals who want to compete outside their biological sex instead of protecting the thousands of other athletes.”
“We want the state to protect opportunities for all student-athletes,” he added. “Stop threatening and expecting school districts to defy common sense.&#8221;
Hilts said he is confident in the districts&#8217; case against the state to make Colorado a place where every athlete has a fair opportunity to compete.
&#8220;We would celebrate a ruling that the federal interpretation of Title IX is the correct interpretation. Common sense is girls should compete against girls and boys should compete against boys,&#8221; Hilts said.
The plaintiffs were back in federal court Monday to argue against the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case.  A decision on that motion is now pending.

More Than A Game

Colorado Schools Win Major Battle In Fight To Protect Girls’ Sports

Colorado

Lawsuit

Title IX

Transgender

Get ready to flush idiocracy down the drain because public bathroom signs matter again in Texas.
<a href="https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/SB00240I.pdf">The Texas Women&#8217;s Privacy Act</a>, or &#8220;bathroom bill,&#8221; went into effect Thursday. It requires you to do your business in the bathroom that matches your biological sex.
State Senator Mayes Middleton wrote the bill to save female multiple-occupancy private spaces in Texas, including restrooms, locker rooms, and changing rooms, from being invaded by men.
&#8220;This is the strongest women&#8217;s privacy law in America,&#8221; Middleton told The Daily Wire. “I defeated the woke left&#8217;s radical gender ideology to protect Texas women and children’s safety.&#8221;
He believes the gendered symbols that have long identified which restroom to use for decades finally have a purpose again.
&#8220;This bill restores those boundaries and makes them enforceable,&#8221; Middleton said.
The bill also requires the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to house inmates according to their biological sex and domestic violence shelters made for women to only serve women and their children.
&#8220;These are boundaries that have existed for generations. They are boundaries based on biological truth. Boundaries based on Biblical truth.&#8221;
Women across the country have been fighting for more laws like the one in Texas. Just last month, a woman in California went viral for complaining about men being in the women&#8217;s locker rooms at her gym. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-tish-hyman-the-california-lesbian-fighting-to-keep-men-out-of-womens-locker-rooms">Tish Hyman</a> has since put pressure on her state leaders in California to keep women safe.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/answer-straight-tish-hyman-crashes-swalwells-town-hall-demands-answer-on-men-in-womens-spaces">‘Answer Straight!’: Tish Hyman Crashes Swalwell’s Town Hall, Demands Answer On Men In Women’s Spaces</a>
Another victim of men wrongfully invading women&#8217;s spaces is Payton McNabb. During a high school volleyball game, she was knocked unconscious by a man playing on the opposing women&#8217;s volleyball team. McNabb, now ambassador at Independent Women&#8217;s Voice, is thrilled Texas has chosen to stand up for women.
&#8220;A big win for basic privacy and common sense,&#8221; McNabb said. &#8220;With the Texas Women’s Privacy Act officially going into effect today, I’m thinking about the girls who will never have to go through what I did. Seeing these protections taken seriously is a reminder of what good leadership looks like.&#8221;
The law imposes civil penalties up to $125,000 per day. People can file complaints with the state&#8217;s attorney general, who issues the penalties.
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The bill includes some exceptions, such as allowing entry for custodial, maintenance, medical, or childcare purposes.
The Texas Women&#8217;s Privacy Act is a victory for the state&#8217;s lawmakers who have fought for this protection since the first bills were introduced in 2017. Now with the law in effect, <a href="https://texasscorecard.com/state/gov-abbott-signs-womens-privacy-act-into-law/">Texas Scorecard</a> reports the state joins 19 others that have legislation protecting women in locker rooms and bathrooms.

Photo-illustration: Getty Images; Daily Wire staff

Texas Takes Back Bathrooms As New Law Bans Men From Using Women’s Facilities

Texas Takes Back Bathrooms As Law Requiring Biological Gender Use Goes Into Effect

News

Texas

Sixteen-year-old Washington state basketball player Frances Staudt has emerged as one of the most forceful young voices challenging the state’s Democratic leadership over policies she argues endanger girls’ sports and punish dissent.
After refusing to compete against a transgender player she described as a “quite obvious” male, Frances found herself under investigation by the Tumwater School District and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association for “misgendering”—an action that prompted a <a href="https://www.fairforall.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Civil-Rights-Complaint_Tumwater-Schools.pdf">federal civil-rights complaint</a> on her behalf earlier this year.
The district, citing state law, insisted it would not “discriminate based on sexual identity” while acknowledging that families hold divergent views. But according to Frances, the message from school officials was far harsher: her concerns “did not matter,” and acknowledging biological sex was off-limits.
At a recent event supporting two “Let’s Go Washington” initiatives aimed at restoring protections for female athletes, Frances delivered a blistering speech accusing Washington’s highest Democratic officials of abandoning girls to ideological pressures. She described escalating social retaliation—public condemnation from staff, online harassment, threats against her family—and said adults privately expressed support but were too afraid to speak.
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Her criticism reached its apex in the passage below:
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Let me end by saying this: Governor Ferguson, (state superintendent) Chris Reykdal, and (state attorney general) Nick Brown, we see right through you. And what we see is gutless men trying to stifle the voices of young women. I may be 16 years old, but I have way more guts than you&#8217;ll ever have.  We&#8217;re not going to stand for it anymore. I&#8217;m calling your bluff, and I&#8217;m exposing the lies that you tell over and over, and I refuse to share my locker room with the boys and men or be kicked out or punished for doing so. I will not be stopped, and what you&#8217;ve done to me is wrong.
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Staudt called on voters and President Donald Trump to intervene, saying, “We need you, President Trump, to please put these out-of-touch politicians in their place and stop this nonsense. I won&#8217;t stop.  Thank you. I won&#8217;t stop, and I&#8217;m asking everyone listening to fight with me. Fight, fight, fight. We will not stand down.”
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NEW: Tumwater High School girls basketball player Frances Staudt joined Let&#8217;s Go WA&#8217;25 signature gatherers in Issaquah, WA over the weekend. 
Staudt is part of a growing movement in the state to ban biological boys from girls sports. 
Here is her speech in full. 🧵👇 <a href="https://t.co/49ygUZk4zE">https://t.co/49ygUZk4zE</a> <a href="https://t.co/w2X5S8Jkya">pic.twitter.com/w2X5S8Jkya</a>
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) <a href="https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/1993019359414174024?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Americans Await Results In 2024 Presidential Election

‘Gutless Men’: Teen Athlete Blasts Washington State Democrats For Failing To Protect Girls’ Sports

Democrats

Washington State

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas, erupted into controversy after American competitor Jammie Booker — who won the Official Strongman Games World Championship over the weekend — was stripped of the title on Tuesday after organizers said Booker failed to disclose that he is a man.
Booker was disqualified for violating the rules that mandate contestants compete in the division matching the sex they were born as.
&#8220;It appears that an athlete who is biologically male and who now identifies as female competed in the Women&#8217;s Open category,&#8221; organizers explained. &#8220;Strongman officials were unaware of this fact ahead of the competition and we have been urgently investigating since being informed.&#8221;
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&#8220;Had we been aware, or had this been declared at any point before or during the competition, this athlete would not have been permitted to compete in the Women&#8217;s Open category.&#8221;
Booker claimed gold while British powerhouse Andrea Thompson, a former champion and one of the most respected figures in the sport, stepped off the podium muttering “this is bullsh*t,” according to multiple witnesses.
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Never happens.
Andrea Thompson just had her title stolen by a man, Jammie Booker, who won 1st at the World’s Strongest Woman competition in Arlington, Texas.
“This is bulls&amp;@$. Can we go?” <a href="https://t.co/y8JakhMNQL">pic.twitter.com/y8JakhMNQL</a>
— XX-XY Athletics (@xx_xyathletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/xx_xyathletics/status/1993156745024381036?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Within hours, her coach, former strongman Laurence Shahlaei, declared Thompson the real 2025 champion, praising her dominance in the deadlift, log press, and circus dumbbell. “Sport is sport,” he wrote. “Women’s classes exist for a reason.”
Three-time World’s Strongest Woman Rebecca Roberts ignited the backlash further, saying that no athletes or organizers knew about Booker’s background. A resurfaced 2017 YouTube video appearing to show Booker describing herself as a “21-year-old trans woman” fueled those concerns.
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Roberts posted a blunt statement alongside a “Protect Women’s Sports” image, insisting she held “no hate toward transgender people” but warned that strength sports cannot ignore biological realities. “Women’s divisions must remain biologically female-only,” she wrote, calling Thompson the true champion. Thompson liked the post.
Other top athletes echoed the sentiment. Three-time champion Donna Moore called Thompson the “true winner,” while 2023 World’s Strongest Man Mitchell Hooper blasted the result in a video after watching the event live. “The first time I saw Jammie, I said: ‘This woman looks different,’” Hooper said, noting Booker appeared several inches taller and roughly 80 pounds heavier than any competitor. “There is a time when you have to take a stand for women’s sports.”
Even Booker’s own sponsor, Iron Ape, cut ties before he was disqualified, saying it had “reason to believe” Booker misrepresented critical information to the Official Strongman Games, stressing the decision was about integrity, not identity.
American strongwoman Morgan Irons said Booker’s participation cost women prize money, podium spots, national bids, and a pro card, adding Booker allegedly raised travel funds “under false pretenses.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Female lifter SLAMS Jammie Booker, a male, for stealing a woman’s place and title in the women’s power competition.
“If we do not come together and fight this, we will be erased, and everything that women have fought tooth and nail for will be void. I urge you to stand with… <a href="https://t.co/ziAc47jP4u">https://t.co/ziAc47jP4u</a> <a href="https://t.co/tLoWkXvSQa">pic.twitter.com/tLoWkXvSQa</a>
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) <a href="https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1993217237356851274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Booker thanked competitors and organizers on social media after winning, saying the outcome wasn&#8217;t expected. His Instagram account, which featured videos of him lifting, is now set to private.

Image 11-25-25 at 10.57 AM

World’s Strongest Woman Winner Stripped Of Title After Organizers Find Out He’s A Man

Three years ago, NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines declared October 10 “XX Day,” an opportunity to celebrate female athletes who refuse to bow to radical left-wing gender ideology. 
This October 10, the XX-XY Athletics Fund announced several new 2025 Courage Wins Champions from a group of young women who hail from two of the most radical states in the nation, Oregon and California.
These female athletes didn’t just talk about fairness in sports. They put their names, reputations, and safety on the line to defend it.
They are high school athletes with no publicists or powerful sponsors backing them up. But despite the mainstream media and other powerful forces opposing them, these athletes stood proudly for the truth.
Jennifer Sey, the founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, says that deep personal conviction is contagious. 
“At a time when threats and bullying have escalated to violence, we are more determined than ever to use our voices and to reward those brave enough to use theirs to stand up for truth and biological reality,” Sey told The Daily Wire of the new winners.
“We need more speech, not less,” she added. “So we’re doubling down and awarding more winners than ever.” Sey added that these athletes are fighting “giants” like Nike and California Governor Gavin Newsom from “ground zero of the battle for fairness in sports.”
She went on, “It’s also notable that today is the deadline for Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to honor the sex-based rights of women in his state or cave to ideological bullies’ demands. He’s a coach and he knows the realities of sport. Young athletes like Kendall Kotzmacher are saving the day so high school girls won’t be erased and humiliated in their own sport.”
“By acknowledging and celebrating these brave young women, we hope to encourage more to stand up in defense of women’s sports as well,” Sey concluded.
Oregon is a state where track and field reigns supreme and where Nike, one of the most aggressively “gender progressive” sports brands, is headquartered. This is where five high school girls made a stand that challenged their state’s athletic programs.
Reese Eckard, Maddie Eischen, and Sophia Carpenter refused to compete against a male athlete at the Chehalem Track and Field Classic last spring. They knew it might cost them friends, rankings, and potentially their athletic futures, but they did it anyway.
<div id="attachment_983855" style="width: 738px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983855" class="size-large wp-image-983855" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-728x576.jpg" alt="Alexa Anderson" width="728" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-728x576.jpg 728w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-300x237.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson-768x607.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Alexa-Anderson.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
“I am so grateful for the support XX-XY Athletics has given me as I speak out for fairness in girls’ sports.   I’ve gained so much courage from the other athletes here in Oregon who are also standing up for equal opportunity. Thank you to XX-XY for empowering me to share the truth. Together, our message becomes even stronger,” Eckard said in a statement. 
Their act of defiance sparked something bigger. When All-American runner Sophia Castañeda, the fastest female sophomore in Oregon history in the 400m, lost to a male athlete and was bullied for speaking up, she joined forces with the others. Together, they filed suit against the Oregon Schools Athletic Association.
<div id="attachment_983857" style="width: 777px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983857" class="size-large wp-image-983857" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-767x576.jpeg" alt="Sophia Castaneda" width="767" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-767x576.jpeg 767w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-300x225.jpeg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda-768x577.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Sophia-Castaneda.jpeg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
And that’s not all. In a now-viral image, Alexa Anderson and Eckard can be seen stepping off the podium after a male competitor was crowned the girls’ state high jump champion. 
“I just didn’t think that it’s fair to biological females to allow and encourage biological males to compete among us, not only for myself and the other girl that stepped down, but the girl who should have been on the podium and the girl who didn’t even get to go to state because she was beaten by a biological male at districts,” Anderson said. 
“It is not about hate or transphobia at all. It’s about protecting women’s rights and their right to fair and equal competition within sports,” she said.
These are high schoolers fighting the same multi-billion-dollar sports industry that silenced adult Olympians. Their courage didn’t just win applause. It earned them the title of 2025 Courage Wins Champions.
Over in California, the ideological capital of this cultural madness, Governor Newsom’s administration is suing the federal government to preserve policies that force girls to compete against biological males. 
At Jurupa Valley High School, three teenage girls, including sisters Alyssa and Madison McPherson and their teammate Hadeel Hazameh, are refusing to play along.
<div id="attachment_983859" style="width: 506px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-983859" class="size-large wp-image-983859" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-496x576.jpeg" alt="Hadeel Hazameh" width="496" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-496x576.jpeg 496w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-258x300.jpeg 258w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh-768x892.jpeg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/Hadeel-Hazameh.jpeg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px" />XX-XY Athletics</div>
“Standing up for what’s right shows more strength than any win or medal ever could,” Hazameh said of their efforts.
They’ve faced everything from online harassment to physical intimidation to threats against their faith. Still, they joined a lawsuit against their school district and the California Department of Education, demanding what should never have been controversial: that girls deserve their own sports.
“It’s not always easy to speak up, but that’s what makes it so powerful. Taking a stand shows other girls that they can be strong, fearless and true to themselves,” Alyssa McPherson said.
Courage Wins Award winners receive up to $5,000 and a spot in a leadership program designed to help them continue speaking up without being punished financially or socially.
That’s the heart of what Sey and XX-XY Athletics are building: a movement that makes standing for truth possible again.
Previous honorees include Brooke Slusser, Lauren Miller, Payton McNabb, Emmy Salerno, Stephanie Turner, Sia Liilii, and the Lincoln Middle School Five, a group of middle schoolers who took on adults and won.
The girls honored this year didn’t ask to be activists; they were just seeking fair competition. But they were unafraid to call out injustice when they saw it, rather than going away quietly. 
The Goliaths they’re fighting, Nike, Newsom, and every screeching activist with a platform, should take note. Because these brave Davids are the new face of women’s sports. 
As Sey put it, “We’re not done yet.”

Reese Eckard

High School Girls Defy Nike And Newsom, Earn ‘Courage Wins’ Awards For Defending Women’s Sports

High School Girls Defy Nike and Newsom, Earn 'Courage Wins' Awards for Defending Women’s Sports

Athlete

gender ideology

Riley Gaines

KMD Brands, the parent company of the popular surf brand Rip Curl, posted an $82.9 million loss and will close 21 retail locations, per a report <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15127941/amp/Major-Australian-retailer-forced-close-stores-records-105millon-loss.html">from</a> The Daily Mail. Rip Curl generated $30.6 million in total revenue in FY25 before taxes, representing a 27% decrease in earnings from the previous year. 
This financial update follows the end of Rip Curl&#8217;s longtime partnership with pro surfer Bethany Hamilton and the release of a promotional clip featuring a transgender-identifying male, which led to boycotts.
The Australia-based KMD <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/09/24/kathmandu-rip-curl-owner-slumps-to-huge-full-year-loss/#:~:text=As%20for%20its%20individual%20businesses,New%20ZealandBusiness">said</a> on Wednesday that it had recently restructured its business in a move designed to save $5 million annually. The results for 2024-25 are significantly worse than those of the previous year, when the company posted a $48.3 million loss, according to 1 News in New Zealand. The outlet noted that the company has not been profitable since the 2014-15 fiscal year.
There is no explicit connection between the company’s poor financial performance and its push for transgender inclusion, but social media users have been pointing to the results as proof of the popular adage, “go woke, go broke.”
In January 2024, the international brand released a documentary ad featuring Sasha Jane Lowerson, a male competing in the women’s category for professional surfing, as part of its “Summer Looks Good on You” campaign. Lowerson <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-10836653/Aussie-trans-surfer-makes-history-winning-title-woman.html">previously competed</a> in the men&#8217;s surfing division under the name Ryan Egan until he began his “gender transition” in 2021.
The video received massive backlash, prompting Rip Curl Women to pull the ad just days later. 
“Our recent post has landed us in the divisive space around transgender participation in competitive sport. We want to promote surfing for everyone in a respectful way but … we upset a lot of people with our post and for that, we are sorry … The surfer featured has not replaced anyone on the Rip Curl team and is not a sponsored athlete,” the company <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C2ytzd6uAVz/">said</a> in a statement at the time.
Meanwhile, Hamilton, an outspoken Christian and critic of males competing in women’s sports, reacted to the promo by <a href="https://x.com/bethanyhamilton/status/1752051389344448993">posting</a> on X, “Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period.”
Hamilton is best known for losing her arm in a shark attack while surfing when she was 13 years old. But instead of letting the accident quell her love for the sport, she went on to compete into adulthood. Her incredible story was turned into both a book and the movie “Soul Surfer.” 
The pro surfer had previously come out against the World Surf League in 2023 when it adopted the International Surfing Association (ISA) policy on transgender participation in the sport. 
&#8220;This concerns me as a professional athlete that has been competing in the World Surf League events for the past 15-plus years,&#8221; Hamilton <a href="https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1622311329821245440">said</a> at the time. 
&#8220;I think many of the girls currently on tour are not in support with this new rule and they fear being ostracized if they speak up,&#8221; she went on. &#8220;We are seeing glimpses of male-bodied dominance in women&#8217;s sports like running, swimming, and others. I personally won&#8217;t be competing in, or supporting, the World Surf League if this rule remains.&#8221;
It’s unclear who initiated the break in sponsorship between Hamilton and Rip Curl, but there’s no denying that the two were at odds when it came to transgender activism. In October 2023, followers noticed that Hamilton’s surfboard, which was always covered in Rip Curl decals, had been stripped bare. 
Hamilton is now sponsored by PublicSquare, an online marketplace that shares her values.
While the exact situation between Hamilton and Rip Curl was never publicly addressed, social media was not kind to the surf brand after it was revealed that it had endorsed males competing in women’s sports.
“Imagine, dropping a phenomenal professional surfer, who survived a shark biting her arm off, only to replace her with a man who pretends to be a woman. Guess what my followers and I will be doing? We will all #BoycottRipCurl,” one person <a href="https://x.com/unhealthytruth/status/1751312157608751228">wrote</a> on X.

RipCurl

Rip Curl Earnings Plunge 27% After Boycotts Tied To Transgender Surfer Promotion

Australia

Business

Economy

Surfing

Transgender Athletes

We&#8217;ve known for a very long time in this country that if you said the wrong thing about the trans issue, you could be canceled.
But now, finally, there are people — heretofore on the Left — who are acknowledging that the threat of cancellation has been real.
This is just one of the beautiful flowering fruits of the Trump administration: people are now free to say things they weren’t allowed to say before.
It’s not clear whether people are deciding that they want to say what is currently more popular or if they genuinely repent having been bullied into acceptance of the trans agenda.
On Wednesday, Malcolm Gladwell, a famous bestselling author, explained his amended point of view on transgender athletes, meaning men playing against women in sports. He was speaking specifically about a 2022 appearance at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, where he moderated a panel discussion in which they talked about the path forward for the inclusion of trans athletes in sports, meaning men competing against women.
On Wednesday, Gladwell stated to 2022 panel co-host Ross Tucker, &#8220;I’m ashamed of my performance at that panel because I share your position 100%, and I was cowed. The idea of saying anything on this issue — I was, I believe in retrospect — in a dishonest way, I was objective in a dishonest way.”
That is honest. Many people were so scared of saying what was obviously true that they didn&#8217;t say it.
This happens all the time in politics. It happened in Great Britain during the Rotherham grooming scandal, when members of the media specifically decided not to cover the fact that there were Muslim grooming gangs, Muslim men, who were grooming underage white girls for sex and then passing them around.
People in the media knew about this, and they decided not to say anything, because to say something would have resulted in censure and public opprobrium as well as people in power suggesting that you were somehow in league with the Right.
And for a very long time in this country and the UK, being in league with the Right was code for being thrown out of public life.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2273-unspoken-truths-on-trans-can-now-be-said?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
I don&#8217;t believe that every view is equivalent. I&#8217;m not a moral relativist. I don&#8217;t believe that we should take every view with equal seriousness. I do think that there is an Overton window, meaning the arena of valuable discussion.
The problem is that the Left shut the Overton window so much that if you disagreed with the Left and fundamentally true principles such as “men are not women,” they would throw you out.
So, for many members of the Right, the question becomes: what do you do when Malcolm Gladwell says something like this? What do you do?
The answer is you probably should offer forgiveness. You probably should offer some form of generosity. While you can make the argument that what Gladwell did was cowardly, it’s more about the insane echo chamber that exists in so many of our elite spaces.
The reality is, if you said what Malcolm Gladwell now says in 85% of the country, you&#8217;d be totally fine; it is the mainstream view.
But if you were in the elite circles in which Malcolm Gladwell travels, you would have lost your social standing. You might have lost your job; people would stop reviewing your books. There was a real risk attached.
It is a credit to President Trump and the American people that the Overton window has been opened again. The American people didn’t want to do this anymore. They were done.
That’s not true in Great Britain, where cancel culture has been enshrined in government policy.
What prevents that from happening in the United States is not our magical adherence to First Amendment principles as a people. Unfortunately, there are many, many people in the United States who — if they had the opportunity —would vote to curb free speech. If you look at the polls of young people, young people overwhelmingly believe that hate speech should trump free speech. According to many polls, young people believe there should be legal limits on the kinds of speech one should be allowed to say out loud.
What protects us is the structure of the Constitution. It is the fact that the Constitution bars Congress from doing what the British government is doing in Great Britain. And the Supreme Court has made very clear that in deference to the Constitution, free speech must be protected at the highest possible level.
The Founders knew what they were doing.
And President Trump, by opening the Overton window and making it possible for those on the Right to be heard and not canceled, is paying tribute to the Founders in the best possible way.

Audible’s The Unusual Suspects With Kenya Barris And Malcolm Gladwell Live With Brené Brown – 2025 SXSW Conference And Festival

Unspoken Truths On Trans Can Now Be Said

Ben Shapiro

Books

Cancel Culture

Leftists

Malcolm Gladwell

Opinion

I expect to cover a lot of cultural madness in my line of work. But I never thought I’d ever find myself voluntarily writing about sex toys.
But over the past few weeks, spectators of WNBA games have taken to throwing rubber phalluses on the court during games.
And so, here we are.
I’m not going to pretend I’ve been a solemn moralist about this from the start. Like many of you, my group texts lit up with this story. The memes? Outstanding. Some of the best work the internet has produced in months. Humor has a way of finding you in moments of absurdity, and I laughed out loud.
But somewhere between a chuckle and a thousand retweets, we blew past a very obvious line.
There’s a difference between laughing about something and endorsing the thing itself. And this? This isn’t streaking, where the joke is on the guy who gets embarrassed, tackled, and escorted out. This is a targeted attempt to humiliate the athletes playing. It’s not about the clown in the stands — it’s about degrading the women on the court.
And one can all but guarantee it’s been men every single time. No woman is throwing this. We’ve all been to enough sporting events to know this is some guy in his late twenties, liquored up, in ripped jeans. Or, as <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/article/nyc-man-wearing-beavis-butthead-064652224.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new images</a> have exposed the first person to be caught, a guy in a Beavis and Butthead shirt. This stuff writes itself.
Spoiler: this guy’s not a hero. He’s a creep.
He’s also not an athlete — his toss didn’t make it to the court, and instead <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/12-year-old-girl-struck-sex-toy-thrown-wnba-game-brooklyn-suspect-soug-rcna224292" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struck a 12-year-old girl</a> who proceeded to “freak out.”
As of this writing, we’ve had four of these incidents, not counting the one above. They’ve happened in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, and most recently in Seattle. You could almost imagine Vegas laying odds on it, and in fact, they have. According to Legal Sports Betting and SCCG Management, prop bets have included:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Will the next dildo still be green? — Yes at –200, No at +150.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Color odds: rainbow at +500, pink at +300, blue at +1400.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Even wagers on how it gets removed—kicked off the court vs. picked up by hand, both around –120.</li>
</ul>
It’s the same energy as the “streaker” prop bet before the Super Bowl — except it makes an unwilling punchline out of the athletes on the court.
Here’s the awkward truth for WNBA fans: the stunt worked. It generated more buzz for the league than any actual highlight this season. I wouldn’t be surprised if Google search trends for “WNBA” spiked higher in those moments than they did for last year’s Finals. On one level, you could call it a marketing success story. On the other hand, you could call it what it is — a sad commentary on the state of sports attention spans.
The players themselves have been clear. Chicago Sky center Elizabeth Williams called it “super disrespectful,” and “really immature,” and said that “whoever is doing it needs to grow up.” Sophie Cunningham took to social media: “Stop throwing dildos on the court … you’re going to hurt one of us.” Cecilia Zandalasini, who had to keep playing through one of the incidents, said, “I’ve never seen anything like that … we stayed locked in.”
Imagine working your entire life to reach the top of your sport — grueling training, constant travel, the pressure of competing at the highest level — and now that you’ve made it, instead of talking about a game-winning three, you have to talk about people chucking sex toys at you.
The WNBA isn’t my go-to watch. But that’s irrelevant here. Respect is not conditional on entertainment value. I don’t have to love your sport to acknowledge your dignity as a professional athlete. And a woman!
This also isn’t happening in a vacuum. Kids go to these games. Parents bring their daughters to watch their heroes in action, to dream about someday playing on that same court. What does it say about our society if those kids have to watch security scramble to clean up a sex toy, or worse, duck out of the way as one flies through the air?
To the inevitable “lighten up, it’s just a joke” crowd — no. There’s a baseline of decency that keeps sports a place where everyone can enjoy themselves. We used to know this instinctively. But now we’re so addicted to viral moments that the only question is whether someone caught it on their phone.
Again, I’m no prude. I’ve laughed at this. I’ve probably laughed harder than I should have. But part of being an adult is knowing when the joke has gone too far. We live in a culture that already does enough to cheapen sex, mock boundaries, and chip away at basic respect. We don’t need to import that into women’s basketball.
The irony is impossible to ignore. For years, women’s sports advocates have been fighting to protect female athletes from unfair competition — most of it coming from men trying to insert themselves, literally, into the women’s category. Now, they’re being forced to dodge rubber reminders of that fight mid-game.
This whole situation has been fun, but it’s time to bring the national conversation back to things that matter. If we’re talking about women’s sports, we should be talking about removing male anatomy from women’s sports, not flinging rubber replicas onto the hardwood.
Because once the gag becomes more important than the game, we’re no longer sports fans. We’re just another symptom of the cultural rot we claim to be laughing at.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

WNBA Finals – Game Four

The WNBA Sex Toy Incident Was Funny. But It’s Gone Too Far.

Sports

WNBA

Fans have thrown sex toys onto the court during WNBA games on three different occasions this past week.
Most recently, Indiana Fever standout Sophie Cunningham was the first to notice a bright green device on the court when her team faced off against the Los Angeles Sparks. The incident occurred after a free throw, right before halftime.
The culprit <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6537792/2025/08/06/sophie-cunningham-sex-toy-wnba-indiana-fever/">fled the arena</a> after throwing the sex toy, according to security personnel.
Clay Travis, the founder of Outkick, commented on the trend and posted video of the latest incident on X. &#8220;A third green d**** has been thrown at a WNBA game!&#8221; he said. &#8220;This time in LA. Atlanta, Chicago and LA now. It appears the d**** may have lightly grazed Sophie Cunningham who tweeted not to hit players with the d*****. This is an all time story. This league!&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
A third green dildo has been thrown at a WNBA game! This time in LA. Atlanta, Chicago and LA now. It appears the dildo may have lightly grazed Sophie Cunningham who tweeted not to hit players with the dildos. This is an all time story. This league! <a href="https://t.co/zlXUGeOCFf">pic.twitter.com/zlXUGeOCFf</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1952928274419527901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
Sparks coach Lynne Roberts called the trend &#8220;ridiculous,&#8221; &#8220;dumb,&#8221; and &#8220;stupid.&#8221;
“It’s also dangerous,&#8221; she <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6537792/2025/08/06/sophie-cunningham-sex-toy-wnba-indiana-fever/">said</a>. &#8220;Player safety is number one, respecting the game, all those things. I think it’s really stupid.”
As noted by Travis, Cunningham seemed to crack a joke about the trend earlier in the week, posting on X, &#8220;stop throwing d****s on the court… you’re going to hurt one of us.&#8221; The post received more than 36 million views.
Following the incident during the Fever/Sparks game, Cunningham noted the post &#8220;did NOT age well.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
this did NOT age well. <a href="https://t.co/K1WGbOWEjJ">https://t.co/K1WGbOWEjJ</a>
— Sophie Cunningham (@sophaller) <a href="https://twitter.com/sophaller/status/1952962130912919737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
On Tuesday, someone threw a similarly green sex toy onto the court during a Golden State Valkyries vs. Atlanta Dream game.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Someone threw a green dildo on the court during a WNBA game tonight. <a href="https://t.co/mFSESW6cfE">pic.twitter.com/mFSESW6cfE</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1950383302126567831?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
The trend has been so widely commented on that people can now actually bet on the color of the next sex toy to be thrown onto the WNBA court.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
You can now bet on what color the next dildo thrown on a WNBA court will be. <a href="https://t.co/8il9I85dJi">pic.twitter.com/8il9I85dJi</a>
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1951709251904430566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 2, 2025</a></blockquote>
The WNBA, though, is not finding the trend so comical, for obvious reasons. So far, at least one person has been arrested for pulling the stunt. The WNBA said in a statement that any person throwing objects onto the court will be ejected and banned from league games for one year.
“The safety and well-being of everyone in our arenas is a top priority for our league,” the statement said. “Objects of any kind thrown onto the court or in the seating area can pose a safety risk for players, game officials, and fans. In line with WNBA Arena Security Standards, any fan who intentionally throws an object onto the court will be immediately ejected and face a minimum one-year ban in addition to being subject to arrest and prosecution by local authorities.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wnba-players-ruthlessly-mocked-for-equal-pay-t-shirts?author=Amanda+Prestigiacomo&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=WNBA+Players+Ruthlessly+Mocked+For+Equal+Pay+T-Shirts">WNBA Players Ruthlessly Mocked For Equal Pay T-Shirts</a>

Indiana Fever v Los Angeles Sparks

Fans Keep Throwing Sex Toys On Court During WNBA Games

Caitlin Clark

America First Policy Institute (AFPI) filed a <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/assets/uploads/files/Oregon-1a-case-072325.pdf">federal lawsuit</a> against the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) on Wednesday, standing up for two female athletes who were relegated to the sidelines when they silently protested being forced to share the medals podium with a male athlete.
Jessica Hart Steinmann, executive general counsel at AFPI, <a href="https://www.americafirstpolicy.com/issues/afpi-sues-oregon-school-activities-association-for-silencing-female-athletes-first-amendment-rights">explained</a> the lawsuit filed on behalf of Alexa Anderson and Reese Eckard, who earned 3rd and 4th place medals in the high jump at the 2025 state championship meet.
&#8220;These young women earned their place on the podium—and the right to express themselves,&#8221; Steinmann said. &#8220;Instead of respecting their viewpoint that girls’ sports should be for girls only, Oregon officials sidelined them. The First Amendment protects the right to dissent—school officials don’t get to reprimand students who refuse to agree with their beliefs.&#8221;
The complaint alleges that the OSAA has a long history of supporting student protests when the cause aligns with officials&#8217; political views — Black Lives Matter, for example — but selectively discriminated against Anderson and Eckard. It also alleges that the trans-identifying athletes were given special privileges at that particular meet, &#8220;allowing them to skip inspection protocols and competition rules that female athletes were required to follow.&#8221;
Following their events at the state championship meet at the end of May, Eckard and Anderson refused to step onto the medals podium alongside the trans-identifying athlete — who had tied for fifth place. Instead, they turned their backs on the podium and stood behind it. As soon as officials realized what they were doing, they were waved off to the side.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Oregon girls high jump state championships just finished. 2 of the females refused to step on the podium with the male competitor and an adult official relegated them to the sideline for refusing. THIS MUST END. <a href="https://t.co/dxIzL8Qf95">https://t.co/dxIzL8Qf95</a> <a href="https://t.co/mAVVNBIPhW">pic.twitter.com/mAVVNBIPhW</a>
— Leigh Ann O&#8217;Neill (@LaLONeill) <a href="https://twitter.com/LaLONeill/status/1928961098419450113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Anderson later said in a statement to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/girls-track-field-athletes-dont-stand-podium-next-trans-athlete-oregon-state-championship" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News Digital</a>, &#8220;We didn’t refuse to stand on the podium out of hate. We did it because someone has to say this isn’t right. In order to protect the integrity and fairness of girls [sic] sports we must stand up for what is right.&#8221;
The <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trans-track-athlete-wins-varsity-girls-competition-previously-placing-last-against-jv-boys-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trans-identifying athlete</a> — who now goes by the name Lia Rose — previously competed on the boys team as Zachary Rose in 2023, where he took 11th place out of 11 competitors in the JV high jump event.

Athlete woman doing high jump

Lawsuit Targets Oregon Officials Who Shut Down Female Athletes Protesting Male Competitor

Lawsuit Targets Officials Who Shut Down Oregon Track Athletes For Protesting Male Competitors

Gender Identity

Track and Field

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee quietly changed its policy this week to comply with President Donald Trump&#8217;s executive order and ban men from competing against women.
The move marks another major win for conservatives and the Trump administration, who have fought to protect women&#8217;s sports. The committee, which posted an update to its Athlete Safety Policy on Monday, stated that it would &#8220;continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities &#8230; to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic &amp; Amateur Sports Act,&#8221; NBC News <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/us-olympic-paralympic-committee-will-comply-trumps-ban-transgender-wom-rcna220369">reported</a>.
Executive Order 14201 refers to Trump&#8217;s &#8220;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/">Keeping Men Out of Women&#8217;s Sports</a>&#8221; action that he signed on February 5. The U.S. Olympic Committee&#8217;s updated policy flew under the radar when the change was made on Monday since it does not mention the word &#8220;transgender&#8221; in any of its 27 pages. The committee confirmed that the men are now banned from competing against women, saying it held “a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials” after Trump signed the executive order, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/22/us/politics/us-olympics-trans-women-athletes-ban-trump.html">The New York Times</a>.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee&#8217;s decision doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that other countries will prevent men from competing in women&#8217;s sports, but the committee said it would work with international groups, such as the International Olympic Committee, to focus on providing safe and fair environments for women. The next Summer Olympic Games will be held in the United States under Trump&#8217;s watch in 2028. The 2026 Winter Olympics will be hosted by Italy.
In the 2024 Summer Games, Imane Khelif of Algeria, a boxer who had failed gender tests, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/boxer-who-failed-gender-tests-wins-gold-in-womens-boxing-without-dropping-single-round-entire-olympic-run">dominated</a> the women&#8217;s welterweight division and won the gold medal. Khelif&#8217;s success in Paris drew outrage across the globe. In 2021, trans-identifying man Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand competed against women in weightlifting in the Tokyo Games, but Hubbard did not compete in Paris. Chelsea Wolfe, a man who identifies as a woman, was also at the Tokyo Olympics as a reserve cyclist for the U.S. women’s BMX Freestyle team.
Recent <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-americans-oppose-trans-women-competing-female-sports-2-3-gen-z-rcna203658">polling</a> from NBC News showed that a vast majority (75%) of Americans do not want trans-identifying men competing against women in female sports. That included two out of three people in Gen Z, who want women&#8217;s sports to be protected from men.

U.S. Olympics

U.S. Olympic Committee Bans Men In Women’s Sports

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