Brittney Griner wasted no time getting political again four months after she was detained in Russia when the WNBA star revealed she thinks it is a ‘crime’ to ban trans women from competing with their biological counterparts in sports .
Appearing at her first press conference as a Phoenix Mercury player since returning to the US in December, the 32-year-old went on to say she will “definitely speak out against that legislation and that law that is expected to be passed,” referring to Republicans want to amend Title IX to guarantee the protection of women’s sports.
“Everyone deserves the right to play,” Griner added, calling all other viewpoints a “threat” to transgender people because they prevent them from truly “being who they are.”
The basketball player’s first press conference drew more than 100 people, including Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, members of the Mercury Organization and her wife of four years, Cherelle.
On Monday, transgender athlete Lia Thomas defended her triumphs in women’s sports, lashing out at those who want only biological women to compete against each other, including some of her former UPenn teammates.
Brittney Griner spoke on many topics, including transgender people, in her first press of 2023
Griner said anti-trans laws prevent trans athletes like Lia Thomas (L) from being who they are
She even went so far as to call anti-trans women “fake feminists,” who want to “control women’s bodies.”
“I think trans women should be celebrated,” added the former college swimmer, who in March 2022 became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national title in any sport after taking victory in the Women’s 500 meters freestyle event. .
The 23/24-year-old, whose exact date of birth is unknown, also compared the push to bar transgender female athletes from sports to historic efforts to bar black women from participating in women’s sports.
“They’re using the guise of feminism to push transphobic beliefs,” she said Monday on the “Dear Schuyler” podcast. “I think a lot of people in that camp kind of have an implicit bias against transgender people, but I don’t think they want to fully manifest or voice that. And so they just try to play it off as this kind of half support.
“You can’t do that… you can’t break me into little pieces as a person.”
Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I national title
A ban on transgender girls playing on female sports teams in North Carolina schools passed a second legislature this week when the Senate passed a bill Thursday.
The passage means the Republican-dominated General Assembly appears poised to work out a final compromise in the coming weeks. It would limit athlete participation and would eventually be sent to Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper – a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
The House passed a similar bill on April 20. Legislators who supported the competing measures expressed optimism that differences can be ironed out.
“I believe the Senate sponsors and the House sponsors will be able to work through that,” House Speaker Tim Moore told reporters.
Cooper’s office criticized the measure, saying politicians should not get involved in these decisions. The GOP now has veto-proof majorities in both the Senate and House after a former House Democrat switched sides earlier this month. The margins on this week’s floor votes suggest any Cooper veto could be overridden.
At least 20 other states have imposed similar limits on transgender athletes at the K-12 or collegiate level. Also on Thursday, the U.S. House passed a bill to ban federally supported schools and colleges from allowing athletes whose biological sex was male at birth to compete on girls’ or women’s sports teams.
“We want to protect women’s sports,” Senator Joyce Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican and sponsor of the bill, said during the debate ahead of the 29-18 Senate vote. “We want our women and our girls to compete against each other, and may the best girl or woman win.”
The North Carolina House on Wednesday passed legislation banning transgender girls from joining female high school, high school and college sports teams. Pictured: Riley Gaines, who swam against Lia Thomas in college and claims she was prevented from succeeding by the trans swimmer
Senate Democrats opposed to the measure agreed with parents of transgender children and their lawyers who said in committee meetings this week that the bill would harm already vulnerable students.
“This bill does nothing to make our schools safer or help our students succeed,” said Senator Natalie Murdock, a Democrat from Durham County. “Unfortunately, here we go again, fighting culture wars with targets on the backs of children.”
Both bills state that “a student’s sex will be recognized solely on the basis of the student’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
It would be applied to sports involving competitive middle and high school and intramural sports. The accounts did not include information on how the policy would be enforced. Students can sue over allegations that they were harmed by a trans student who violated restrictions.
The House also wants to apply the admission restrictions for athletes to college and university teams. The measure would also place limits on trans boys and cisgender girls for athlete eligibility, preventing them from playing on teams designated for male athletes if there is no comparable girls team except for wrestling.