The National Hockey League touched off a skirmish Tuesday by tweeting that “Trans women are women,” prompting pushback from foes of biological males participating in female sports if they identify as women.
The ruckus began after the league touted its support for the Team Trans Draft Tournament in Middleton, Wisconsin, calling it the “first tournament comprised entirely of transgender and nonbinary players, with around 80 folks participating!”
A commenter responded with, “So, men playing on womans [sic] team?” prompting the NHL to assess a penalty.
“Trans women are women. Trans men are men. Nonbinary identity is real,” the league replied on its official Twitter account.
The gloves came off shortly thereafter as some users cheered the NHL’s commitment to transgender identity while others pointed out that there are no biological females who identify as men playing in the league.
Conservative pundit Dana Loesch tweeted: “Stop erasing women.”
“If this is true, why aren’t there any trans men in the NHL? They’re real men, after all. Must be terrible and vicious discrimination,” tweeted conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro.
Matt Walsh, star of the Daily Wire documentary “What is a Woman?” and conservative author, said the NHL “becomes the latest organization to totally debase itself for the sake of pandering to people who aren’t their customers and never will be.”
Said digital strategist Greg Price: “The NHL should definitely let a biological woman line up against Alexander Ovechkin and see how that theory works out for them.”
What the puck? NHL lands in penalty box for insisting that ‘Trans women are women. Trans men are men.’ https://t.co/FIk5NnfChJ
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) November 22, 2022
During the exchange, the NHL locked its account to allow replies only from those it follows.
David Harsanyi, senior editor at The Federalist, asked: “If that’s so, why aren’t there any trans men playing in the NHL — or AHL or OHL or WHL or ECHL?”
Those last four references are to North American hockey’s minor and feeder leagues.
Others defended the NHL and blasted the critics.
“Anyone being transphobic in the comments deserves NOTHING but the worst. Y’all are truly such sad people,” tweeted one hockey fan.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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