Sage Steele calls out Stephen A. Smith over transgender athletes: ‘Why did it take you three years?’

In recent years, Stephen A. Smith has opposed the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports, but Sage Steele claims he should have been vocal about it sooner.

Smith joined the latest episode of The Sage Steele Show, where he discussed his career and political issues, among other topics, with his former ESPN colleague. During the conversation, Steele and Smith debated whether he benefits from operating under a separate set of rules at ESPN. But even with the alleged Stephen A. Smith rules, Steele accused him of holding back his opinions on transgender athletes until it was safe to share them.

“Tell me why,” Steele began to ask Smith. “Why did it take three years for you to say something that I know you’ve believed this entire time.”

“Excuse me,” Smith interjected. “I’ve said it on First Take from day one. From day one. I think it was Thomas for Penn, the swimmer. I was like this, I said, ‘you transitioning from a man to a woman, you shouldn’t be competing against women.’”

Steele pressed Smith to confirm whether he made that statement about Lia Thomas, the University of Pennsylvania swimmer and first openly transgender athlete to win a NCAA Division I national title, on First Take, to which he answered, “absolutely!”

“Do you want, at that particular time, in that particular climate, for us to belabor the issue?” Smith asked. “No. But I made it very, very clear where I stand.”

Smith may have addressed the inclusion of transgender athletes in women’s sports on First Take as the Lia Thomas story was being politicized, but there does not appear to be evidence of it. Smith did, however, address the topic nearly three years ago in 2023, right around the time Steele publicly shared support for Riley Gaines, who eagerly grabbed the baton as one of the biggest opposition forces against transgender athletes competing in women’s sports. It wasn’t on First Take, but Smith did willingly oppose Thomas competing in women’s sports during an interview with The New York Times in 2023.

“The young lady that was swimming at the University of Pennsylvania,” Smith said. “My only issue with that is, if you were once a male who now identifies yourself as a female, that’s fine. It’s an entirely different subject to be competing against women. That’s where it’s a challenge for me, because I’m like, if this is what you identify yourself with now, I support that and support folks not violating your civil rights, not mistreating you. But if you’re competing against ladies and from a physical perspective, you were not born a lady, does that not give you an advantage? We’re just going to ignore that?”

Smith has maintained his opinion on transgender athletes, repeating his stance as recently as last week during an appearance on Real Time with Bill Maher. “Biological men should not be competing against biological girls in sports, period,” Smith said before again citing Lia Thomas as an example.

There are valid arguments on both sides of the transgender athlete debate. Smith, like Steele, has made his opinion clear. The issue is whether this is a legitimate controversy or one being sensationalized for political gain. Contrary to how it’s often portrayed, the Lia Thomas example is not regularly epitomized in women’s sports across the country.