Last week, Townhall reported how two men who believe they are “transgender women” competed in a women’s cycling event. To no surprise, the men came in first and second place. The two men, Tessa Johnson, 25, and Evelyn Williamson, 30, placed first and second, respectively, at a different event on October 7, which Townhall covered.
Men took the top two podium spots in the women's singlespeed category at the Illinois State Cyclocross Championships yesterday.
— 🚲 (@i_heart__bikes) December 4, 2023
Tessa (Michael) Johnson took 🥇and "Evelyn" Williamson took 🥈
Thanks to @usacycling, men are racing in women's categories all over the US. pic.twitter.com/AQixz5xWx1
This week, the woman who came in third place behind Johnson and Williamson defended the men for competing against women.
The cyclist, Kristen Chalmers, called the headlines about the event “ridiculous” for suggesting that she was robbed of coming in first place.
“It would be ridiculous to say that my life has been ruined by getting third,” Chalmers told NBC News. “I had a great race, and it would have been more boring if it had been a smaller field without such strong competitors in it.”
In a letter, which she soon plans to make public, Chalmers said that she and other female cyclists stand “steadfast in their support” of transgender athletes.
“We refuse to be falsely presented as victims in a manufactured controversy driven to further alienate and marginalize those most vulnerable within our community, in service of rampant and harmful anti-LGBTQ+ legislation,” the letter reads. “We speak for ourselves: inclusion makes our sport and community stronger. Everyone is welcome here. Trans women are women.”
Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines responded to Chalmers’ remarks.
“Why is it so often women applauding their own erasure? Chalmers may claim she’s fine losing to men, but female athletes like her don’t have the right to willingly surrender the integrity of competition for everyone,” Gaines told Fox News Digital.
"The majority of female athletes believe women deserve respect and fair competition. She is a traitor to ethical and fair sport. And she's a traitor to women."