Hayton’s latter claim isn’t backed by data. As recent studies have indicated, there is no conclusive evidence that trans women who undergo hormonal transition have any advantage over cis women.
But those realities haven’t stopped several other right-wing, anti-LGBTQ+ outlets from making similar claims, including the Daily Caller, Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, Christian Daily, CNS News, Daily Wire, and the Western Journal. The statements were also picked up by leading conservative pundits like Ben Shapiro, Ryan Fournier, and Elizabeth Johnston, the latter of whom is a vocal conversion therapy supporter who professionally goes by the handle “The Activist Mommy.”
According to research provided to them. by Media Matters, Fox News applauded Jenner’s views regarding trans participation in athletics on at least three occasions. On Sunday, Fox & Friends host Will Cain — who also deadnamed her — lauded Jenner for “not running away from a question, fear of cancellation, fear of retribution, mob justice, not towing the non-commonsensical and faxable point of view.”
The following day, a Gutfield! contributor claimed that Jenner made a “great point.” “[W]e separate boys and girls sports for a reason,” said Tyrus, a frequent guest on Greg Gutfield’s mononymous program.
Right now, Jenner has a brief window of opportunity to reconsider her comments before they are further weaponized by the same anti-transgender forces on the right that she once claimed to oppose. But if she doubles down and continues to use her large public platform to speak out against young trans athletes — she is scheduled to appear on Hannity on Wednesday, for instance — she will enact immeasurable harm to trans youth across the country.
As a grim example of the potential damage that could be caused, take former tennis star Martina Navratilova, who penned an infamous 2019 op-ed referring to trans inclusion in sports as “insane” and “cheating.” This was despite the fact that Navratilova competed against former U.S. tennis player Renée Richards, one of the first openly trans athletes in the world, on three occasions and won every match.
“I am happy to address a transgender woman in whatever form she prefers, but I would not be happy to compete against her,” Navratilova wrote. “It would not be fair.”
Navratilova was subsequently quoted in 2019 legislative sessions in Montana, when progressive lawmakers proposed revising the state’s human rights act to include LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination protections. Former State Representative Lee Qualm (R-District 21) read from the op-ed directly, claiming that such protections would allow a man to “decide to be female, take hormones if required by whatever sporting organization is concerned, win everything in sight and perhaps earn a small fortune, and then reverse his decision and go back to making babies if he so desires.”
Navratilova called that assertion “ridiculous” and a misrepresentation of her words, but as the saying goes: Impact is greater than intent. Jenner may soon find herself cited in similar fashion.
In 2021, a year that has seen more anti-trans bills introduced in state legislatures than any year in history, Navratilova has been quoted in no less than 11 bills that specifically aim to ban trans girls and women from playing sports on sex-segregated teams. This includes the “Mississippi Fairness Act,” which was signed into law last month. If Jenner’s not careful, her name is going to start appearing in these bills, too.
Theoretically, Jenner should want to avoid a future in which anti-LGBTQ+ groups cynically triangulate her against her own community, having spent years styling herself as a trans rights leader. In 2015, when she received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award, which recognizes bravery in sports, Jenner spoke about the myriad difficulties trans youth face in her acceptance speech. She specifically shouted out “all the young trans athletes who are out there — given the chance to play sports as who they really are.”
After initially supporting Donald Trump, Jenner began criticizing the Trump administration’s anti-trans actions in 2017 and then wrote a Washington Post op-ed in 2018 rescinding that support, condemning the bigotry coming from the White House. Her bio for that op-ed identified her as a “transgender rights advocate and author.”
If that’s still a title Jenner wants to claim, she needs to be able to understand how starkly disconnected she is from the vast majority of trans people. It’s easy for someone who has already had her opportunity to play sports to pull the door shut behind her, even while the vast majority young trans youth athletes who just want to play the sports they love will continue to face attacks from lawmakers.
Now, to add insult to that incalculable injury, the words of the most famous trans person in the world will be used against them, too.
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