Is this ‘transphobic’ shirt the next ‘MAGA’ hat? Sportswear maker responds to liberal critics
Jennifer Sey, the founder of an activewear company that defends women’s sports, responded to a recent critical article by a liberal news outlet by saying that the word “transphobic” means “nothing” to her.
Amid the ongoing controversy over the participation of biological men women’s sports, San Francisco Chronicle columnist and cultural critic Soleil Ho wrote an article lamenting the rise of so-called “anti-trans activewear.” The article, titled “Is this the next MAGA hat? Transphobic clothing is the new hotness,” cited T-shirts that read “Save Girls’ Sports” and “It’s common sense. XX ≠ XY.”
Sey, a former US gymnastics champion and advocate for female athletes who founded XX-XY Athletics, was slammed in the article for owning “a company whose sole purpose is to pump out anti-trans activewear and fund right-wing influencers.”
Sey initially responded to Ho’s article by writing an X post joking, “This article wins as the dumbest thing I’ve read so far this year.” She said Fox News Digital about its work with XX-XY Athletics, touting it as “the only brand committed to protecting women’s sports and space.”
Former elite gymnast Jennifer Sey has spoken about her choice to found an activewear brand that champions women’s sports.
HOW TRANSGENDERITY IN SPORTS MOVED THE 2024 ELECTIONS AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE
“I was inspired to start XX-XY Athletics because I looked at all the athletic brands that claim to champion female athletes and ignore the problem at hand, which is more and more men entering women’s sports,” Sey said. “Not only are they ignoring it, but I would argue, in many cases, I’m on the wrong side of the issue.”
She also noted how, as a longtime resident of San Francisco, she emerged as a leading critic of the area’s local politics beginning in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking controversy that did not sit well with the local liberal media.
“The San Francisco Chronicle likes to troll me a little bit. They don’t like that I’m so critical of the city and their institutions and their governance,” she recalled. “On that note, I accept, you know, if XX-XY athletics is the ‘new face’, that sounds pretty trendy to me.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Ho for comment.
She continued her speech recent article criticizing her directly.
“The article is generally … I have no other word for it than ‘stupid’ and ‘full of lies,'” she said. “The writer claims that a large number of studies show that sex is a spectrum. That is simply false. There are no studies. She cites no studies. She does not link to any studies. There is no evidence that sex is a spectrum. Sex is I don’t know how the newspaper I can’t even check the facts, but you know, basic facts shouldn’t be violated, in a real newspaper.”
Jennifer Sey with brand ambassadors Paula Scanlan (L) and Riley Gaines (R)
Still, she said, she would gladly accept publicity to advance her business, “and the fact is, it’s good for the truth.”
Sey also particularly clashed with the writer’s ideology.
“It’s an ideological perspective, it’s activism, it’s not a biological reality,” Sey said, mocking the idea that “‘a person is what they say they are.'”
“That’s just not true,” Sey replied. “There is such a thing as biological reality.”
She was amused by the comparison to the distinctive red “MAGA hats” of Trump supporters.
“Well, MAGA hats are quite popular,” she said. “I think people wear them to make a statement about their values and their stance on the political issues of the day. You know, I believe that XX-XY Athletics is an assertion of just a basic truth, a biological truth, and I think it’s becoming the uniform of common sense and more and more people they don’t care if they’re called ‘transphobes’ for wearing a shirt or ‘bigots’ for wearing a shirt, because they know that name-calling is reserved for those without arguments.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Her roots in calling for the invasion of women’s space go deep.
“I was the first former elite gymnast to speak out about abuse in sport, emotional, physical and sexual abuse in sport,” she recalled. “So I care a lot about protecting female athletes and I think this is an important issue within that same category. Female athletes deserve safe training, they deserve privacy, they deserve honesty, and I can’t believe that anyone who calls themselves a feminist or a women’s rights activist wouldn’t see that this question is not based on biological reality and I will not lie any further.”
