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I was a sports columnist at the Seattle Times for 11 years. This is why I resigned
MAtt Aclkins ^ | 20 August 2026 | Matt CAlkins

Posted on 08/20/2026 7:34:15 PM PDT by Rummyfan

I really wanted the column to run. I didn’t think it would, but I felt obligated to try to get it in.

Toward the end of last month, before the Seattle Storm hosted the Indiana Fever, I spoke to people attending a rally in support of Sophie Cunningham outside Climate Pledge Arena. The Fever guard had recently taken a stance against biological males competing in women’s/girls sports, and a few dozen folks showed up to express their gratitude for her position.

One of them was 16-year-old Ahnaleigh Wilson, who’d lost to a biological male in a track and field race in eighth grade and was holding a sign reading “Thank You Sophie for Speaking up for Girls!”

I didn’t know if I was going to write something at that point, but after she allegedly got cussed out by a Storm co-owner during the game, I felt like I had to weigh in.

One thing Wilson emphasized to me at the rally was that she wasn’t anti-trans. Another student-athlete named Frances Staudt — who said she’s endured daily verbal abuse after refusing to play against a biological boy in a basketball game — echoed Wilson’s sentiment.

So that was the thesis of my column (which you can read here) — that supporting the separation of biological females and males doesn’t automatically make you transphobic, so let’s stop throwing those labels around.

(Excerpt) Read more at mattycee.substack.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Politics; Society
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1 posted on 08/20/2026 7:34:15 PM PDT by Rummyfan
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To: Rummyfan

Seattle media is trashing him hardcore.

personally I think he made a very bad decision.

But the media are all more focused on the Mayor so next week no one will care.


2 posted on 08/20/2026 7:41:14 PM PDT by algore ( )
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To: algore

He quit before he was fired for wrongthink.


3 posted on 08/20/2026 8:02:20 PM PDT by bray (Thank God for Israel)
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To: algore
Sometimes one has to stand up for principle over convenience and safety. And, if someone operates from principle and then capitulates to go against his principles and what is right, then that person really never feels the safe about himself.

Values are everything. While this person's immediate future is unknown, when he comes out the other end, and he will, he can stand tall because of the respect he gained for himself.

4 posted on 08/20/2026 8:09:33 PM PDT by Parmy
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To: Rummyfan
Climate Pledge Arena

A world-class, net-zero carbon certified sports arena.

Gag me with a woke spoon.

5 posted on 08/20/2026 8:18:48 PM PDT by Ronaldus Magnus III (Do, or do not, there is no try. )
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To: Rummyfan

Women are below trans in the victim pecking order.


6 posted on 08/20/2026 8:49:34 PM PDT by ArcadeQuarters (You can't remove RINOs by voting for them!)
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To: ArcadeQuarters

(Kudos to Matt Walsh)

7 posted on 08/20/2026 8:57:27 PM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est)
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To: Rummyfan

“she’s endured daily verbal abuse after refusing to play against a biological boy.” Prayers for all young people who get abuse from fools.


8 posted on 08/20/2026 10:37:47 PM PDT by Falconspeed ("Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others." Robert Louis Stevenson.)
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To: Parmy
[...] then that person really never feels the safe about himself.

Huh?!

Regards,

9 posted on 08/21/2026 1:43:00 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Rummyfan

“...outside Climate Pledge Arena....”

How sick are they out there?


10 posted on 08/21/2026 2:12:10 AM PDT by Bonemaker (invictus maneo )
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To: Rummyfan

Climate Pledge arena 🤦‍♂️😂😂😂😂


11 posted on 08/21/2026 2:46:50 AM PDT by bantam
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To: Rummyfan

“The talent there is immense, and the editors let me have a lot of fun with other stories. I also realize where the brass is coming from. “

That’s not talent...that’s being cowed into submission.


12 posted on 08/21/2026 2:50:28 AM PDT by Adder ("A pack of jackasses led by a lion is superior to a pack of lions led by a jackass.” GW.)
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To: Ronaldus Magnus III

Amazon bought the naming rights to Seattle Center Coliseum.

In our modern culture, there are protections for women’s sport, you cannot support men’s sport, and you must support every cause of the Left from infanticide all nine to exchanging the truth for a lie, and then the values of the CCCP (”Medicare for All”), permanent wage floor hikes, and supporting transgenderism.

As I’ve noted over the years, since I was studying my senior thesis, my classmate in that class wrote about Title IX abuse against men’s sports in college. It’s now coming to high schools.

Anyone who does not support the Woke Left’s causes are to be trashed in their view.


13 posted on 08/21/2026 4:07:34 AM PDT by WhiteHatBobby0701
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To: Rummyfan

This isn’t going to stop until biological women and girls boycott all sports, and it’s just trans women competing against one another. Women will have to pull out completely.


14 posted on 08/21/2026 4:29:27 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady (The greatest wealth is to live content with little. -Plato)
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To: Rummyfan
Climate Pledge Arena

Oh, FFS!

Wilson emphasized to me at the rally was that she wasn’t anti-trans

I, on the other hand, AM anti-trans, because I’m anti-mental illness. I’m also anti-muslim, because I’m anti-intolerant, misogynistic, bloodthirsty, rapacious cult.

15 posted on 08/21/2026 4:56:00 AM PDT by Sicon ("All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." - G. Orwell)
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To: A_perfect_lady

Unfortunately, the majority of lesbians consider their allegiance to the alphabet crowd more significant than their status as women. All of the lesbian coaches have signed on the silence on this issue.

The only well known lesbian athlete that has publicly taken the side of women is Martina Navratilova.


16 posted on 08/21/2026 5:58:31 AM PDT by Bayou Dittohead
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To: rlmorel

What’s T + 70?


17 posted on 08/21/2026 6:21:21 AM PDT by Lakeshark
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To: Rummyfan
...but after she allegedly got cussed out by a Storm co-owner during the game, ...

...but after she allegedly got cussed out by a Storm trooperr during the game,

Fixed it.

18 posted on 08/21/2026 6:35:24 AM PDT by 17th Miss Regt (Fascist, deplorable, and proud of it!)
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To: Lakeshark

That’s a Transgender which has a +70 Victim Handicap.

Which means a white male starts off with zero victim points right out of the box.

My wife would get one victim point out of the gate.

A tranny gets seventy victim points as a starting point!


19 posted on 08/21/2026 6:53:56 AM PDT by rlmorel (Factio Communistica Sinensis Delenda Est)
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To: rlmorel

Where are the Muslims? They should be around the same level as the LGBT crowd. And have Hispanics been totally removed from consideration?


20 posted on 08/21/2026 7:08:59 AM PDT by redangus
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