A sports columnist for The Seattle Times resigned from his position after 11 years, stating the newspaper refused to publish a column he wrote discussing transgender athletes in women's sports. Matt Calkins announced his departure on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday, citing the paper's decision not to run a column based on interviews with female student athletes who expressed opposition to competing against transgender competitors.
In a post on his Substack, Calkins elaborated on his resignation, explaining that the column was inspired by a rally in support of WNBA star Sophie Cunningham, who has voiced concerns about the inclusion of transgender athletes in women's sports. Calkins aimed to explore the perspective that supporting the separation of biological females and males in sports does not inherently signify transphobia.
He stated that an editor informed him the column would not be published because he had not provided advance notice of his intentions, a reason Calkins found unconvincing. He resigned immediately, also mentioning other columns he had proposed that challenged prevailing newsroom narratives and were not published.
Calkins believes a columnist's role is to foster discussion on contentious issues. He expressed that avoiding such topics leaves readers underserved and that he felt unable to perform his job effectively.
The column in question, titled "Agreeing with Sophie Cunningham’s stance doesn’t make you transphobic," was published on his Substack. In it, Calkins wrote, "You can show compassion for people who feel trapped in the wrong body while acknowledging they have a biological advantage. After all, why do we separate males and females in sports in the first place?"
Sophie Cunningham's views on transgender athletes have drawn both criticism and praise. Her stance has been supported by some prominent conservative figures and was acknowledged by the Trump administration. However, in an interview with ESPN, Cunningham stated she is "very much in the middle" politically and that her intention was not to express hate toward transgender individuals but rather to "extend love, but with that love is truth."
Calkins alluded to apprehension about the future of professional discourse, quoting the film "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and expressing he was "scared shitless" of potential repercussions from activist groups, which he described as "frightening and does not forget."
A representative for The Seattle Times declined to comment on personnel matters when reached by HuffPost.