LONDON, ON – After US President Biden issued an Executive Order banning gender identity discrimination in sports, local transphobic man James Martin reports becoming worried about women’s sports, after a lifetime of entirely ignoring women’s sports.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Martin explained he is “hugely supportive” of trans people, but “as a feminist” he’s concerned their quest for equality could ruin everything “those lady athletes have fought for throughout the history of women’s sports – that’s almost 20 years!”
Several friends commented with gentle corrections, linking to resources like transathlete.com or the documentary Changing the Game, but Martin dismissed this as “cancel culture.” Since then, Martin has retreated to a “Citizens concerned about trans women athletes” Facebook group, which he calls “welcoming” and “full of straight middle-aged guys like him.”
Martin claims his passion for causes like this always comes out of nowhere; mere moments after Biden’s Executive Order was announced, he found himself Googling “women’s sports” for the first time ever. He also became invested in actors’ rights to play any role in 2018, after Scarlett Johansen dropped out of playing a trans man, and he’s been pro-free speech since 2019, when the Toronto Public Library came under fire for hosting transphobe-disguised-as-feminist Meghan Murphy.
Martin even briefly supported banning public washrooms altogether, but later admitted that stance was due to misreading a headline.
“I love female athletes!” says Martin, who last watched women’s sports during the 2012 Olympic games. “I love figure skating, and gymnastics, and… is softball in the Olympics?”
While maintaining he just wants to keep politics out of women’s sports, Martin was shocked to learn the WNBA spent 2020 protesting racial injustice. When asked if he also worries about non-binary athletes, or about trans men affecting men’s sports, Martin replied, “Huh. I never thought about them before… But now that you mention it, I’m extremely worried!”
Martin’s wife supports him in his new cause. “I take this whole ‘trans women in sports’ thing as an affront to my womanhood,” said Maureen Martin, “and I really don’t have the time or energy to unpack why!”
Since his Facebook manifesto went viral, Martin says he feels “scared to speak.” The only recent post on his public page was an ocean backdrop with a text over it reading, “I refuse to dim my light to fit in or make people feel more comfortable.”
When he was informed this quote is from prominent non-binary basketball player Layshia Clarendon, Martin grumbled “censorship” and took the image down.
