WNBA player Brianna Turner claims new IOC policy doesn’t protect women
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WNBA player Brianna Turner has spoken out against the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s new policies banning biological males from competing in women’s sports, claiming they do “everything” but protect women.
“The IOC has a documented history of refusing to protect women in elite sports, and current calls for protection do nothing more than that,” Turner wrote. USA Today’s column Friday.
The IOC announced in March that it would adopt a new policy limiting events in the women’s category to biologically female athletes determined by genetic testing, starting with the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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WNBA player Brianna Turner wrote an op-ed for USA Today criticizing the new Olympic policy that limits women’s events to biological women. (Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images/Reuters)
Turner accused the IOC of using the new policies to “scapegoat” transgender athletes and ignoring “real” issues with women in sport.
“Policies that exclude trans women and athletes with intersex differences do not protect women’s sports. They create a scapegoat without addressing the real challenges facing women’s sports: unequal funding, limited access to training and facilities, pay disparities, male-dominated leadership, gender-based violence and harassment across race, gender, sexual orientation and gender identity,” Turner said.
He also rejected the IOC’s claim that the new policy was put in place to ensure women’s sports are safe and fair, claiming that transgender athletes have no biological advantage.
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a new policy regarding transgender athletes in March. (Laurent Gillieron/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
“I have played with and against transgender individuals and undoubtedly people with intersex variations in organized basketball for over 15 years and have never encountered unfair advantages. I have viewed these players not as my enemies but as fellow athletes,” Turner wrote.
He concluded by demanding that the IOC not use female athletes to “shame or ostracize” transgender athletes.
“Do not use the names of female athletes to target, shame or exclude trans women. Trans women are women. Women with intersex differences are women. I welcome these women and all women to my teams,” Turner wrote. “If we truly want to protect the integrity of sport, let’s invest in justice, opportunity and safety for every athlete. Let’s build a future where sport belongs to everyone.”
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Other female athletes criticized the IOC’s new policy and claimed it was not based on science. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly, File)
Fox News Digital has reached out to the IOC for comment.
WNBA legend Sue Bird also claimed on the “A Touch More” podcast earlier this month that the new IOC policy is “fear-mongering” and “does not solve an existing problem.”
In the same podcast, former U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe challenged the idea that Olympic policy is based on science.
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“As much as we want biology to be nice and clean and tight and perfect in one category and perfect in another, we already know that it’s not,” Rapinoe said. “We know that. So what we’re doing now is subjecting everyone, all women and all people who identify as women, to this really invasive test that just tells me, ‘Oh, we’re just trying to narrow it down to a certain type of woman.’ Is that what we’re doing? That’s really the whole game here.”
