Comedian and talk show host John Oliver stirred up some controversy during a recent broadcast in which he argued that allowing trans-identified men to compete in girls’ sports was acceptable and not a risk to the safety of female athletes.
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“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling quickly countered Oliver’s claims and explained why forcing female athletes to compete with men is unfair and dangerous.
During the episode, Oliver discussed how Republicans effectively used Vice President Kamala Harris’ support for biological males in women’s sports against her during the 2024 campaign. He lamented the fact that Harris’ campaign failed “to formulate a response, especially because it’s pretty easy to do.”
“Watch, I’ll do it for you right now. As we’ve discussed before, there are vanishingly few trans girls competing in high schools anywhere. Even if there were more, trans kids, like all kids, vary in athletic ability, and there is no evidence they pose any threat to safety or fairness. It is very weird for you to be so focused on this subject. Finally, if you genuinely want to address the biggest concern for most girls who play high school sports, you’d be less worried about this and more about the creepy assistant volleyball coach who keeps liking their posts on f*****g Instagram.”
John Oliver claims that there is no safety threat having male students compete against girls.
Payton McNabb suffered severe head injuries after being spiked in the face by a male competitor during a high school volleyball game.
She now has 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀. pic.twitter.com/KWSLNy1bJN
— Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) November 15, 2024
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Rowling struck back in a lengthy post on X, accusing Oliver of “motivated reasoning and confirmation bias” in his arguments and highlighting data showing how forcing females to compete against males can cause injuries while depriving them of opportunities.
“According to the UN, female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals to trans-identified men competing against them in women’s sporting categories. Girls have been ousted from teams to make way for boys. Women have suffered serious injury playing against trans-identified men (see Payton McNabb, mentioned below).”
The author went on to argue that those promoting the idea that biological males in women’s sports isn’t a big deal are trying to “indemnify themselves against repercussions from cultural elites in the media, academia and publishing who’ve showed themselves more than ready to kick people to the kerb for failing to mouth the approved mantras.”
Nothing about this feels good, because John Oliver generously gave his time for my charity Lumos and I liked him very much when I met him, but God knows, if you ever need an example of motivated reasoning and confirmation bias, this video’s for you. An undoubtedly intelligent… https://t.co/3IS4onzXq0
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) November 17, 2024
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Payton McNabb, who Rowling referenced in her post, was injured during a 2022 volleyball game by a trans-identified male player on the opposite team. She suffered a severe concussion and neck injury after he struck her in the face when spiking the ball.
Here is a video of the girl getting spiked in the face.
John Oliver is lying at the expense of girls everywhere.
He should be ashamed of himself.https://t.co/g0EZJBGBwF pic.twitter.com/urjKc3cT2t
— Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) November 15, 2024
McNabb’s story is one of several in which female athletes have been injured by male players.
