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Diana Nyad
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Sports

Diana Nyad Reverses Her Stance on Trans Sports Participation, Calls For Inclusion

After "a lot of deep diving," the 2023 Out100 honoree's views on transgender athletes have evolved.

After “a lot of deep diving,” Diana Nyad’s views on transgender athletes have evolved.

Back in 2022, the legendary long-distance swimmer, famous for being the first person to report swimming from Cuba to Florida, wrote an opinion piece for The Washington Post in which she said that trans athletes should be celebrated — but should not compete against cis women.

Nyad, who identifies as a lesbian, argued that trans women who have gone through male puberty had “legacy advantages” like wider shoulders, narrower hips, longer arms and legs, and bigger hands and feet than cis women, and therefore it wasn’t an even playing ground. She said the science supported this.

Now nearly two years later, Nyad has spoken out again — this time on the side of knowledge, change, growth, compassion, and sportsmanship.

In her new statement, published in this year’s Out100 issue, Nyad admits that since writing the piece, she has “come to understand that the science is far more complex than I thought, and there are clearly more educated experts than I who are creating policy to ensure that elite sports are both fair and inclusive of all women. I regret weighing in on that conversation and any harm I may have caused.”

She continued, saying she now sees “all women are negatively affected by the ways transgender women are targeted by discrimination and abuse in sports and elsewhere,” and she is now “firmly on the side of inclusion.”

It’s a beautiful message from one of sports’ greatest legends — and it’s a message other female athletes should pay attention to.

There’s a popular belief that it’s hard to change someone’s mind once they’ve set it against trans rights or inclusion. This is especially common when talking about people from older generations.

Many of my trans friends have sighed about their grandparents and said things like, “at their age they are not going to change, they’re doing the best they can.” And often, it seems like all that we can hope is that they will respect our identities and support us “in their own way” no matter how much that way hurts or excludes us.

While other notable figures who have written op-eds and spoken out against trans athlete inclusion, like Martina Navratilova and J.K. Rowling, continue to double down on their beliefs, no matter how much new information they are shown, Nyad proves that growth is possible.

Nyad has long been known as someone who will do whatever she wants, despite what anyone else says and despite what limits others put on her.

Her upcoming biopic, Nyad, starring Annette Benning and Jodi Foster, shows this perfectly when the then-64-year-old began her fifth attempt at swimming from Cuba to Florida and finally succeeded, despite everyone saying she couldn’t. When doctors, coaches, experts, and even her best friend told her she had limits, Nyad refused to be limited. The film comes out in theaters on October 20 and on Netflix on November 3, and is an inspirational story of one queer woman triumphing over societal expectations.

Now, Nyad shows once again that she is not limited by anything other than her own power. And that her power for change is a mighty one.

Nyad’s new statement gives trans people hope. Not just because we have one of the greatest female athletes ever on our side, but because this is proof that with compassion, information, and time, minds can and will be changed.

Diana Nyad has always shown that the human spirit can accomplish anything it wants to. Now, with her help, a future of equality, access, and celebration for trans athletes is within sight.

The Out100 issue, featuring cover star Brandi Carlile, is out October 31 on newsstands. Support queer media and subscribe — or download the issue today through Amazon, Kindle, Nook, or Apple News.

Mey Rude

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

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Mary Kessenich/VIU Mariners
VIU Mariners womens basketball team 2024
Mary Kessenich/VIU Mariners

Mey Rude

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.

Sports

Women's basketball team boycotts game in support of trans player

The Vancouver Island University women's basketball team is taking a stand after one of its players was allegedly harassed for being transgender.

Once again, the issue of trans women in college sports is coming to a head.

This time, however, one team is refusing to play the other not because they have a trans team member, but because the other team allegedly harassed the trans player on their own roster.

Vancouver Island University is the latest school to step into the debate over trans women athletes in women's sports and has come down on the side of trans inclusion.

All 13 members of the VIU women's basketball team have signed a letter saying they do not feel safe playing in upcoming away games at Columbia Bible College due to that team's coach complaining that VIU has a trans woman, forward Harriette Mackenzie, on the team.

"All of us should be free to be ourselves and play the game we love in a supportive and safe environment – including queer and trans athletes," the letter reads.

The letter addresses PACWEST (the conference in which the team plays) leadership, saying, "We need you to know that we are not OK with what happened. We do not feel safe playing at CBC or with that team so long as coach Claggett is still free to behave the way she did. Your inaction isn't just disappointing. It has made us and the game less safe."

According to Mackenzie's account posted to Instagram (above), the trouble started after Vancouver Island University beat the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in a basketball game in October. She alleged that after the game, the other team's coach, Taylor Claggett, "cornered one of our athletic staff and went on a tirade about how I shouldn't be able to play."

The next day, she says her coach called her and asked if she was "aware of the situation on social media."

"After the night before's game, Taylor Claggett's brother and business partner, Kyle Claggett, had posted the following on his Instagram story," Mackenzie says in an Instagram post showing several screenshots that say: "Keep women's sports, WOMENS SPORTS!" and "You have girls that have dreams to play post secondary basketball and when they end up making it they have to play against a MALE! Unreal. Make it make sense."

She then alleged that in the next game the teams played, she felt like she was targeted with hard fouls and was almost injured.

"Sadly, situations like these are nothing new to me," she said. "Throughout my entire playing career, I've been outed and attacked by everyone from players to coaches to fans. They try to invalidate my achievements, from player of the year to national MVP, claiming, 'She only won that because she's trans.' Many attribute my success, not to hard work and dedication, but to the fact that I am a trans woman. These people don't know my story and they don't care to. They don't care that I began my transition in kindergarten, never undergoing male puberty. They don't care that my testosterone levels are one tenth that of a cis woman, due to lack of reproductive organs, placing me at a significant disadvantage to cis women. They don't care, and instead, they are fueled by their shared bigotry and ignorance."

Columbia Bible College released a statement denying that the team had targeted Mackenzie, but acknowledged its coach did have a discussion with VIU's coach, and said that "Taylor Claggett was speaking out for the safety of her players like any good coach would do," and, "We stand in support of Taylor Claggett, and all our coaches, in expressing their legitimate concerns for the safety of our student athletes."

This safety was in question, the statement says, due to "the play of a 6'2" transgender athlete."

The Pacific Western Conference (PACWEST), where both teams play, also issued a statement, saying that the league "is dedicated to providing all student-athletes with the opportunity to freely participate in competition. All student-athletes deserve an inclusive environment free of harassment where respect and personal dignity are guiding values. Intimidation or harassment of PACWEST student-athletes will not be tolerated."

"As a member of the Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), the PACWEST follows national policies and procedures for all sports that lead into CCAA championships, including the CCAA's policy on transgender student-athlete participation found here," the statement continues.

It also points to a scientific review by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sports, which says that "available evidence indicates trans women who have undergone testosterone suppression have no clear biological advantages over cis women in elite sport."

Vancouver Island University is asking the conference to suspend Claggett, move the provincial championship to a venue other than CBC, and require the school to adopt a "zero-tolerance policy for hate and discrimination." It also calls on the conference to postpone the games between the two teams if it plans on recording the boycott as losses for VIU.

A statement from VIU says the school "stands in full support of our student-athletes and affirms the right of all athletes to compete in an environment that prioritizes their safety and well-being."

Trans inclusion in sports has been a hot-button issue, with many of the world's largest sports bodies weighing in. In 2024, a study financed by the International Olympic Committee showed that while trans women athletes had greater handgrip strength compared to their cis women counterparts, they scored lower on lung function, cardiovascular fitness, and jumping ability.

According to a paper published by the National Library of Medicine, "While data are still scarce, the limited information available does not suggest that trans men and trans women have much, if any, athletic advantage post-transition. Indeed, in most cases they perform more similarly to those matching their gender identity, or somewhere between cis men and women."

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