A longtime Seattle Times sports columnist, Matt Calkins, resigns after he says the paper declines to publish his column about transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. Calkins says the paper refused to run his piece despite his having written it about two student-athletes who oppose transgender participation.
The reports describe the resignation as a dispute over editorial decisions. Calkins alleges editors “spiked” or refused to run the column, and he frames the issue in terms of women’s sports and who should be allowed to compete. The outlets differ slightly in how they characterize the column’s argument: some emphasize the athletes’ viewpoints, while others highlight Calkins’ contention that opposition to “men playing in women’s sports” is not inherently transphobic. The Hill and the Washington Times both report that the spiked or declined story involved transgender athletes in women’s competitions, while The New York Times Business report similarly attributes the resignation to the column’s removal.
None of the sources provided quotes or statements from the Seattle Times describing its editorial rationale.
