Media Ignores Women's Rights When They Intersect With Trans Rights

Two reporters recently left The Guardian newspaper in England after "not being allowed to write" about transgender issues.

Newspapers across the United States are heralding the return of Brittany Griner, who is referred to as one of the “greatest players of all time” in the Women’s National Basketball Association.

It is good news. Griner pleaded guilty to drug possession in Russia and was sentenced to nine years at hard labor in prison. She was freed Thursday in exchange for a notorious Russian arms deal, Viktor Bout, who is nicknamed “Merchant of Death.”

But is Griner truly one of the greatest female basketball players of all time? Griner, 31, is 6-foot-9-inches tall, wears a men’s U.S. size 17 shoe and has an arm span of 87.5 inches. Griner regularly wears men’s attire and says her two children call her “dad.” Was she born a biological female or a biological male?*

Meanwhile, an ex-journalist for The Guardian newspaper in Britain complained this week that she and another female journalist left the paper after not being allowed to write about transgender issues from a woman’s perspective. Suzanne Moore wrote in England’s The Telegraph that any conflict between trans and women’s rights “are dismissed, ignored or deemed ‘transphobic’” at The Guardian (which claims to be an independent “global news organization that delivers fearless investigative journalism.”)

Moore said she wrote a column about the huge uptick in teenage girls (often autistic) wanting to transition to male that spurred a “virtue signaling” letter by 330 Guardian staff members wanting to stop “‘transphobia’ at The Guardian.”

Freeman, who worked The Guardian for 22 years, defended Moore.

In an appearance Monday on the BBC’s “Women’s Hour,” Freeman said The Guardian refused to allow her to write about gender and trans issues from the perspective of a woman while permitting broad coverage of the trans perspective. She said there is an “atmosphere of real fear at the paper” about speaking up for women’s rights when they intersect with trans rights.

“It just got to the point where I couldn’t take anymore,” said Freeman, who has accepted a job at England’s Sunday Times.

“What I don’t understand is why the upper management are scared to deal with it,” said Freeman, referring to efforts to quash consideration of women’s rights. She noted the problem isn’t confined to The Guardian, and also exists at America’s left-leaning newspapers, The New York Times and The Washington Post.

One Of The Greatest ‘Female’ BB Players Of All Time

For years, women have questioned the fairness of permitting innately stronger biological men to participate in women’s sports and the wisdom of allowing biological men entry into women’s spaces that historically were separate for privacy and security reasons (i.e. restrooms, prisons, locker rooms). These concerns are not covered by reporters and columnists for publications like The New York Times and The Washington Post.

“If you have fear. If you’re scared of voicing doubts because of what people in the office might say … then you probably shouldn’t be a journalist,” said Freeman.

Griner is universally described by the media as a female basketball player who is much better than other female basketball players. She has been a star on women’s teams in college, the Olympics and now at the WNBA. Was she born a biological male? No one in the media apparently thinks that is a relevant question.

Dereliction of duty

Moore writes that she feels most upset about “the absolute dereliction of basic journalism by the Left-wing media. The first lie is there is no conflict between trans rights and women’s rights, and no harm is ever caused by self-identification.”

Moore called the “un-reporting of truth by the so-called Left… vomit inducing.”

Moore says the left has censored “actual information, not opinions, information about puberty blockers, information about the number of sex offenders who claim to be women in prison, information about what (author) J.K. Rowling actually said, information about trans athletes who have gone through male puberty, information about public attitudes.”

“When told most trans women retain male genitalia, [women] become more uncomfortable about females sharing intimate spaces with them.” - Moore.

It is wonderful that Brittney Griner has been freed from an overly harsh prison sentence and returned her wife and family. But there is reason to question whether she is, indeed, one of the best female basketball players in the world. Is it fair that she is competing against women?

Don’t hold your breath waiting for the media to answer that question.

Note: Even the so-called Women’s Sports Foundation advocates for the participation of biological men who identify as women in women sports.

*A photo in the Wall Street Journal on 12/8/22 showed Ms. Griner with a pronounced beard stubble: