Middle school female athletes reportedly refuse to compete against biological male at track meet, protest in shot put ring



A handful of middle school female athletes reportedly refused to compete against a biological male at a West Virginia track and field championship Thursday — and cellphone video showed them staging a protest in the shot put ring.

What are the details?

The event was the 2024 Harrison County Middle School Championships at Liberty High School, OutKick reported.

The outlet said seven schools took part: Bridgeport, Heritage Christian, Notre Dame, South Harrison, Lincoln, Mountaineer (Clarksburg), and Washington Irving.

Several female shot put participants from Lincoln were seen on cellphone video protesting the inclusion of a transgender athlete in the competition, OutKick said.

Specifically, the girls from Lincoln were seen one by one stepping into the shot put ring and then quickly stepping out of the ring without making attempts.

— (@)

While the video in Gaines' post appears to show six separate protests by Lincoln in the shot put ring, AthleticNet indicates that five Lincoln girls posted "ND" (no distance) in the finals. Gaines also writes that five girls refused to participate.

While OutKick doesn't name the transgender athlete upon whom the reported protest focused, Gaines did so in her post, calling attention to Becky Pepper-Jackson, who has been in the news quite a bit lately.

Blaze News reported that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled in a 2–1 decision that a West Virginia law requiring every student athlete to participate in accordance with their biological sex violates the Title IX rights of Pepper-Jackson.

Pepper-Jackson — a biological male — has been living as a female and taking puberty blockers for years.

How did Pepper-Jackson fare at the meet?

According to AthleticNet, Pepper-Jackson of Bridgeport won the shot put final with a toss of 32 feet, 9 inches, easily besting the second-place finisher by more than three feet.

AtheticNet added that Pepper-Jackson placed second in the discus finals, while Ava McGill of Lincoln won it. McGill was not among the Lincoln girls who posted "ND" results in the shot put finals, according to stats. What's more, AthleticNet indicates that only one of the Lincoln girls who posted a "ND" result in the shot put finals repeated that for the discus finals — and one of the Lincoln girls who took part in the shot put protest posted a result in the discus finals, placing seventh.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Most Americans opposed to transgender women, girls competing against biological female athletes at HS, college, pro levels: Poll



A majority of Americans are opposed to transgender women and girls competing against biological females in high school, college, and professional sports, a recent poll found.

What are the details?

The Washington Post said a poll it conducted with the University of Maryland last month found that 55% of Americans are opposed to transgender women and girls competing with "other women and girls" in high school sports, and 58% are opposed to the athletic matchup in college and professional sports.

About 3 in 10 Americans said transgender women and girls should be allowed to compete at each of those levels, the paper said, adding that 15% have no opinion.

But at the youth level, 49%are opposed to transgender girls competing with "other girls," the Post reported, while 33% said trans girls should be allowed to compete and 17% have no opinion.

More from the paper:

Among athletes, the controversy has centered on transgender females, in particular. Critics say they have an unfair physical advantage against cisgender females because of factors such as generally having a greater muscle mass and larger skeletal frame, bone density and testosterone levels, which can help boost athletic performance.

Critics of the bans say they deny transgender athletes’ right to compete in a space that aligns with their gender, further stigmatizing children who are at greater risk of mental health problems. Critics also say the bans overestimate the extent of trans girls’ and women’s participation in athletics.

The Post added that its poll with UMD finds more than two-thirds of Americans — 68% — say transgender girls would have a competitive advantage over "other girls" if they were allowed to compete with them in youth sports; 30% say neither would have an advantage, and 2% say "other girls" would have an advantage.

The case of Lia Thomas

Teammates of Lia Thomas — the University of Pennsylvania transgender female swimmer who won a national championship — voiced reservations about Thomas' presence on the women's swim team, Mark Hyman, director of UMD’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, told the paper.

“They were totally supportive of her surgery and her path but opposed to her competing on the women’s team, so from a practical standpoint this is more evidence that there is considerable pushback,” Hyman added to the Post. “There is significant momentum against transgender athletes competing. ... The survey results point to me that that’s a factor in how people are reacting to this.”

A teammate of Thomas said Penn officials warned women swimmers they'd face consequences for speaking out against Thomas' presence on the team.

“They’ve made it pretty clear if you speak up about it, your life will be over in some way, you’ll be blasted all over the Internet as a transphobe … you’ll never be able to get a job,” the teammate told Matt Walsh as part of his just-released "What Is a Woman?" documentary, according to the Daily Wire.

Anything else?

The poll was conducted online May 4-17, 2022, using a random national sample of 1,503 adults, by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland’s Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism and Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, the Post said, adding that results have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

In an attempt at inclusivity, Tampax tweets that men get periods, too — and it backfires spectacularly



Tampon manufacturer Tampax has insisted that men can get periods, too, sparking a firestorm on social media for being anti-woman and more.

What are the details?

As reported by the New York Post, tampon brand Tampax — which is owned by Proctor & Gamble — tweeted in September, "Not all people with periods are women."

Though the company tweeted the message last month, it's now gaining traction across the internet, sparking heavy criticism from those who believe in science.

Tampax tagged the tweet #mythbusting, #periodtruths, and #transisbeautiful.

The tweet reads, "Fact: Not all women have periods. Also a fact: Not all people with periods are women. Let's celebrate the diversity of all people who bleed!"

At the time of this reporting, the tweet received more than 27,000 comments.

Fact: Not all women have periods. Also a fact: Not all people with periods are women. Let's celebrate the diversity… https://t.co/XkLQdrjGwY
— Tampax (@Tampax)1600198276.0

What was the response?

Despite hordes of social media users rallying around the company with praise for such an inclusive campaign, many people railed against the notion and argued that the company is alienating women and ignoring science.

Conservative author and commentator Ben Shapiro wrote, "Fact: all people with periods are women."

Fact: all people with periods are women https://t.co/cAd48HwIh1
— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro)1603629247.0

Former Major League Baseball player Curt Schilling added, "Every single person that has have had a cycle is scientifically and genetically a woman. That's not offensive, it's not meant to be offensive, it's just a scientific fact. Facts can't be offensive but YOU can be offended by them when they don't follow your narrative."

@Tampax @gobeeharris Every single person that has have had a cycle is scientifically and genetically a woman. That'… https://t.co/82tmdMQc3M
— Curt Schilling (@Curt Schilling)1603573401.0

Another social media user added, "Sigh...so tired of companies disrespecting their main target audience & gaslighting the public for virtue signaling points."

"I honestly don't understand how some companies sound identical to parody or satire," another user wrote.

One woman who identified herself as a mother chimed in, "Oh dear @Tampax your products are more expensive but I have been buying them for decades. Not any more. Anyone who calls me and my daughter "people who bleed" isn't getting a penny more of my money."

One user seemed to encourage a boycott of the company, and wrote, "Tampax is owned by P&G. You can also boycott their other products: Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®, SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®."

"Dear Tampax, are there instructions on the box for men who want to insert a tampon up their penises? As an attorney who has successfully litigated product liability cases, I would be very interested in your answer, in writing of course," added another user who identified himself as an attorney.