Charles Barkley used the topic of transgender athletes as an opportunity to declare he is against men playing against women in sports.
Barkley joined OutKick’s Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich Thursday morning to discuss NBA media, the playoffs, moving to ESPN and Stephen A. Smith running for president, among other topics. During the interview Dakich also asked Barkley about Nike reportedly funding a youth transgender athlete study. While Barkley was unaware of the Nike story, he quickly pivoted to discussing men playing in women’s sports.
“Men should not play sports against women…If anybody thinks that, I think they’re stupid.”
NBA Hall of Famer, Charles Barkley, made his stance on transgender athletes crystal clear.
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“I’m going to make this very simple for you,” Barkley told Dakich. “Men should not play sports against women. I’m not going to get into all the bullsh*t that’s going on out here in the world today.
“You know, it’s interesting, I always sit back and look at the stuff and let me tell you something. I love gay people. I love transgender people. I’m against any form of discrimination, period… I love my gay friends, and I love my transgender friends, but I’m not going to get into all this stuff that’s going around. Men should not play sports against women. If anybody thinks that, I think they’re stupid.
“I support the gay community 100%. I support the transgender community 100%. But I do not under any circumstances, under zero, think that men should play sports against woman. And if anybody have a problem with that, they’re going to have to get over it. Because I’m not going to change.”
Despite the common belief that ESPN leans left and only portrays liberal political or social ideals, Barkley’s stance on transgender athletes will actually fit well at the Worldwide Leader. Kirk Herbstreit, Dan Orlovsky and Stephen A. Smith are among the growing number of ESPN personalities who have already spoken out against transgender athletes.
While he attempted to reduce the topic of transgender athletes to men playing in women’s sports, Barkley does routinely express support for the LGBTQ+ community. There are valid arguments on both sides of the transgender athlete debate. But it’s disingenuous to claim transgender athlete support means supporting men in women’s sports.
