A former U.S. champion gymnast is pushing back against a new celebrity-backed advertising campaign that supports allowing males who identify as female to compete in girls’ sports, as the Supreme Court of the United States considers key cases on the issue.
The criticism comes amid the Supreme Court’s review of two cases challenging state laws that restrict male trans-identified athletes from competing in female sports categories.
The 30-second advertisement, sponsored by the progressive civil liberties group American Civil Liberties Union, is part of its “More Than a Game” campaign. The video features actress Naomi Watts, U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe, trans-identifying actor Elliot Page, actor Benito Skinner, fashion designer Willy Chavarria, and former WNBA player Sue Bird.
Throughout the advertisement, the participants argue that “supporting trans youth isn’t just about sports,” framing the issue as one of “freedom” both “on and off the field.”
Former elite gymnast Jennifer Sey, however, rejected that framing, calling identity-based arguments in sports “nonsense.” Sey is a seven-time member of the U.S. women’s national artistic gymnastics team and the 1986 U.S. Women’s All-Around National Champion.
In a post shared Friday on X, Sey—who also founded the sports apparel brand XX-XY Athletics, which advocates for fairness in women’s sports—argued that athletics are fundamentally about competition, not personal identity.
“Sports are about competing. All this nonsense about identity affirmation in sports? What? It has nothing to do with anything,” Sey wrote. “Bodies play sports, not identities. I don't care what your identity is when you're on the field. (Or off, frankly).”
Sey further argued that existing laws do not prevent boys who identify as female from playing sports, but instead require them to compete on teams that correspond with their biological sex.
“Oh, and another thing, this whole ‘aw shucks we just wanna play’ — no,” she added. “Sports are about competing. About getting better. About winning. It's not about inclusion, and everybody gets a trophy.”
She also disputed the campaign’s emphasis on freedom, writing, “There is no freedom in sports.”
“There are rules. And you play by them. And women's sports are for women only,” Sey continued. “Take your identity affirmation elsewhere and leave us alone.”
One day after the ACLU released the campaign video, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. BPJ, which challenge state bans on trans-identified male athletes competing in women’s sports in Idaho and West Virginia.
Outside the Supreme Court, women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines addressed a rally, urging the justices to rule in favor of what she described as “common sense and of truth.”
“Even with a favorable ruling, I will tell you, it’s not enough,” she warned. “Understand that the cases that are being heard are not to decide if states must protect us as women, if we must have rights to equal opportunity, to privacy and to safety. That’s not what it is. It’s if states even can. It’s the bare minimum that we’re fighting for,” Gaines declared.
