Two of women’s soccer’s biggest stars are calling out Caitlyn Jenner for supporting Republican attempts to ban trans athletes from sports.
In comments to TMZ, the California gubernatorial candidate claimed that it “isn’t fair” for cisgender girls to be forced to compete against “biological boys” in student athletics. She told the gossip news site that she believes it’s important to “protect girls’ sports in our schools,” despite the fact that studies have shown that all students benefit from trans inclusion in sports.
After the remarks ignited a firestorm of criticism, former World Cup champion Ali Krieger said she was “taken aback” by the remarks in a Thursday interview with Variety. “I feel like every kid, including trans kids, should have the opportunity to play the sport they love to play,” Krieger told the entertainment publication.
In addition to competing with the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT), Krieger and her wife, Ashlyn Harris, play for the Orlando Pride in Florida. The Sunshine State is one of more than two dozen states to introduce legislation this year seeking to limit trans participation in athletics, and its bill was among the most controversial of those measures. An early version of the legislation would have potentially mandated “genital checks” for any student accused of being transgender.
Although it initially stalled in a Senate committee, Florida’s anti-trans sports ban passed the state legislature after being attached to an unrelated charter school bill. It currently sits on the desk of Republican governor Ron DeSantis, who has indicated he will sign it.
Harris, who joined Krieger for the interview, said that the issue is about creating a “safe space” for all youth, regardless of gender identity.
“We can’t be segregating or making these laws where trans youth can’t be a part of things,” she told Variety. “I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed in the state we live in, Florida, for continuing to come up with these laws to just separate this community. I’m just disappointed. We still have a lot of work to do.”
Krueger agreed that trans youth deserve access to the same opportunities as their peers. She said being part of a sports team allows young people to learn “important life lessons” that will be denied to some if bills like Florida’s become law.
“To have that opportunity is key,” she said. “No matter if you’re trans or part of the LGBTQ community or queer or anything, you should be allowed to play.”
Unfortunately, at least five states have signed their anti-trans sports bills into law this year: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia. After vetoing a bill banning trans girls from both K-12 and college sports over concerns of an NCAA boycott, South Dakota’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem, signed an order instructing state agencies to develop blocking barring trans athletes from competition.
Krieger and Harris aren’t the first LGBTQ+ celebrities or advocates to blast Jenner’s comments, which are being used to push even more legislative attacks on trans kids.
Openly gay Star Trek actor George Takei fame slammed her on Twitter, calling Jenner a “menace” and “no friend to the LGBTQ community.” Actress Shakina Nayfack, who appeared in Hulu’s Difficult People, added that Jenner is “classically uninformed, wildly privileged, and tragically self-hating.”
“She can go protect the integrity of fucking herself,” Nayfack said.
Others to castigate the one-time Olympian include New York City Council candidate Marti Gould Cummings, who wrote that Jenner is “dangerous” and “egotistical,” and activist Charlotte Clymer, who said that she is “about as credible as any paid shill.”
Even RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Trinity “The Tuck” Taylor, who portrayed Jenner on Snatch Game in All Stars 3, had words for her.
“A trans girl is a girl,” Taylor said. “A trans boy is a boy.”
Following the backlash, Jenner sidestepped the issue in a Wednesday interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. She claimed that she is puzzled why she keeps getting asked about her opinions on trans people in athletics: “To be honest with you, I don’t know why they keep asking that. What do you think, Sean? I don’t know. Why do they keep asking me that question?”
Jenner, who claimed she was “all for trans inclusion” in a 2020 interview with the LGBTQ+ news site Outsports, then claimed that she doesn’t feel the issue is of paramount importance. “There’s more problems here in the state of California than that now,” she said.
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