Celebrity fitness trainer Jillian Michaels spoke out Tuesday in favor of fairness in women's sports after several West Virginia middle school girls staged a protest against one of their competitors, who was born male.
Michaels said the data supporting men's strength as greater than women's is “irrefutable” during “Fox & Friends,” even when accounting for cross-sex hormone therapy.
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“You have two competing goals in sport. … One is inclusion, which everyone can understand and embrace. However, the second goal that directly opposes inclusion in this case will be fair competition,” Michaels said Tuesday.
“And if that's your priority, if your top priority is equity rather than inclusion, you have to look to the data, and the data irrefutably shows that biological males are 10 to 30 percent stronger, faster, have better endurance and better aerobic capacity in all areas.
At least five middle school girls refused to compete in the Harrison County Championships track and field meet last week after a transgender woman won her one-meter shot put competition, according to the New York Post.
The 13-year-old won the competition despite five girls from a rival school refusing to enter to protest her participation.
Several middle school girls refused to participate in their shot put competition due to the participation of a trans athlete. (“Fox & Friends” screenshot)
The protest comes after a federal appeals court ruled that transgender girls cannot be banned from competing in West Virginia.
“If we rely on the studies, and I've sent several to your producers… they show that even with puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, the reduction in physical performance is, quote, insignificant. It's what the data says,” Michaels said.
“And to give you an example, if you look at a biological transgender woman with grip strength in conjunction with a biological transgender woman – OK, so both are on blockers and cross-sex hormones – the transgender woman, the biological woman. “Men's grip strength was 17% greater than women's on testosterone and puberty blockers,” she continued.
The eighth grader allegedly took puberty blockers and identified as female for years.
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OutKick host Charly Arnolt praised the girls for refusing to compete, saying their stance was the only way to spark change and protect fairness in women's sports.
“It's really upsetting that these middle school girls have to give up their opportunities to take a stand,” Arnolt said earlier Tuesday on “Fox & Friends.” “It takes a lot of courage, especially at that age, but they're doing this for the greater good. It's not just for themselves.”
“These girls decided, 'You know what? We want to make sure people pay attention to this.' This is the only way and the only way for… the government to really start paying attention to this, and in particular this federal appeals court that just overturned the West Virginia law banning transgender athletes from competing in sports women,” she continued.
“That's the only way they can start to say, 'OK, maybe we're doing something wrong here.'”