Conservative Outrage Machine is Angry That a Nonbinary Person Exists in Sports
Competing as your sex assigned at birth is not enough for conservatives. A track runner, assigned female at birth, is accused by conservatives of being a man simply due to their non-binary identity.
by Mira Lazine
Daily Femail is Assigned Media’s newest column, offering real opinions delivered with a satirical tone to address last week’s biggest news stories. Written by Mira Lazine, the column aims to humorously mock right-wing tabloids while also providing quality reporting every Tuesday.
Last week, transgender people around the world rejoiced when Nikki Hiltz, a non-binary track runner, qualified for the Paris Olympics after a record breaking run.
“I told myself, ‘I’m not going to think about all the love and support [I have] until 100 meters to go. And then, at that moment, you can let it all fill you up and push you to the finish line.’ That’s exactly what I did, and I think that’s what brought me home,” they said.
Hiltz ran a staggering 3 minutes and 55.33 seconds, the second fastest time for any American in the women’s 1500 meter running competition. This marks a new record for the sport, with the runner breaking ground that is borderline unheard of.
Eagle-eyed viewers will note that Hiltz competed in the women’s running competition. This is because they were assigned female at birth and have not undergone any hormonal transition methods.
To many, this may seem like a simple bit of logic - the Olympics has no issue with them competing because they’re not on any different hormones, and they’re doing exactly what anti-trans advocates want by competing in alignment with their assigned sex. But regardless of what trans people do, the anti-trans outrage machine just doesn’t know when to shut up.
One person said, “And yet there you are - still a mediocre man stealing a woman's place on the Olympic team. Shame on you.” Nancy Hogshead, a TERF CEO, echoed a similar point, complaining about “men” taking over spots on women’s teams.
Hiltz, of course, never identified as a man and never been considered one by anyone who is capable of rational thought. Of course, especially in the case of Hogshead, there’s no money in being a decent human being who actually researches things before getting angry.
It’s also particularly bizarre that individuals with no athletic record are calling an Olympian mediocre. The Daily Femail has found no evidence that these parties have even touched grass.
These claims have gotten so severe and so widespread that Reuters had to do a fact check article responding to claims that Hiltz is somehow a trans woman. They, of course, received official confirmation from the sports agency representing Hiltz that states they were assigned female at birth.
Advocates for trans people have rightfully criticized these individuals, calling out the obvious hypocrisy - transphobes will complain about trans people not competing with their assigned sex at birth and instead going by their actual genders, and yet at the same time will complain about trans people even existing. We can see this among TERF bloggers who believe that a trans person existing in sports somehow takes away from cisgender women’s accomplishments.
It appears that opponents to transgender rights are kicking and screaming like goofy little toddlers because they have to see trans people. It remains to be seen how they will fare when the trans agenda forcibly transes the gender of everyone they know.
To no one’s surprise, more mainstream conservative outlets have jumped on the bandwagon of attacking an athlete who dared to exist as a trans person. Washington Examiner released an opinion article by a no-name commentator that complains about Hiltz’s media attention.
According to the writer of this article, Hiltz identifies as a “made up gender.” Imagine the author’s surprise when they find out that all genders are made up because all facets of identity are made up. Daily Femail will offer up $20 to whoever can name an entirely subjective experience that is not, at least to some degree, made up.
It also must be said that all of this attention and focus on Hiltz by the right-wing outrage media is expected. Trans people exist, and that is enough to outrage people who are offended by their presence. This, however, can bring some joy to trans people. After all, it can be quite funny to live rent free in the head of someone who’s built their entire identity around hatred while going on to live your own life filled with happiness and joy.
The Daily Femail thus issues a formal notice to all opponents of transgender people - eat shit, cope and seethe, trans people will always exist.
Hiltz says on the subject of receiving recognition for who they are to Central Oregon Daily, “I’m just looking forward to keep showing up as myself and keep taking up space. I use they/them pronouns and people stumble all the time. But it’s like, ‘You can’t really ignore me anymore, because I’m a two-time, back-to-back champion. I’m here, get-it-right’ kind of vibe.”
Mira Lazine is a freelance journalist covering transgender issues, politics, and science. She can be found on Twitter, Mastodon, and BlueSky, @MiraLazine