Nike Faces Backlash Over Transgender Youth Study

University Cube ^ | 5/6/26 | UniversityCube News Staff

[DallasBiff]

Nike, the global athletic wear giant, finds itself embroiled in a public relations storm following allegations it funded a study examining the effects of "gender-affirming" medical interventions, including hormone therapy, on transgender youth, particularly athletes. This controversy erupted after a detailed article in The New York Times, which focused on Blaire Fleming, a biological male competing in women's volleyball, mentioned Nike's purported financial support for such research. Critics spanning various fields, from women's sports advocates and medical professionals to conservative lawmakers and media personalities, have voiced profound ethical and health concerns, characterizing any study involving medical transition for minors as potentially harmful and exploitative. While Nike has issued a statement asserting the study "was never initialized" and "is not moving forward," the company has declined to offer further explanation, a silence that has only intensified the debate surrounding its alleged involvement and its broader stance on gender identity issues in sports and society

[Red6]

Opinion (I have not researched and checked the ideas I base my conclusions on).

Offshoring is also true for most of the US textile / clothing industry and many other larger US manufacturers. Nike was just following the general trend.

US government doing the bidding of the oligarchs and big corporations that see the cheap labor not only went along with it, they created policies which no kidding incentivized (there were tax benefits in some cases from what I remember) in offshoring for many years.

In the modern urban US, the “middle class” was created in the factories.

When the shift began towards offshoring, we really set the stage for what we have today, the working poor in low paying service sector jobs and extreme rich business owners or super high skilled technical folks. Amazon is the perfect example.

The only remnants of a middle class can be found in the trades (HVAC or electrician...), but many of the jobs that created the once large / predominant middle class moved to China, Taiwan, South Korea or Mexico.