Transgender Individuals Win Top Spots at Chicago Women’s Cycling Event

Canadian transgender cyclist Rachel McKinnon prepares to compete during the 2019 UCI Track Cycling World Masters Championship, in Manchester, UK, on Oct. 19, 2019. OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images

Two males who identify as female won the top two spots in a women’s cycling race in Chicago, becoming the latest example of men dominating sports competitions meant to be exclusive to women.

Tessa Johnson, a man who identifies as a woman, took home gold medals in both the Women’s Single Speed and Cat Half categories on Oct. 7 at the Chicago CycloCross Cup (CCC) race.

Evelyn Williamson, also a biological male identifying as female, won silver in the women’s Single Speed category at the same competition—while placing fourth in the Cat Half race, according to results shared by the CCC account on X and on the USA Cycling website.

This left just one biological woman on the podium for the Single Speed race—Allison Zmuda.

“Today male racers Tessa (Michael) Johnson and Evelyn Williamson once again proved they are GREAT at women’s cyclocross at Jackson Park in Chicago,” the @i_heart_bikes account posted on X, featuring victory photos of the athletes standing on the podium.

The post drew a number of critical reactions online, with one commenter quipping that “women in sports will become obsolete at this rate.”

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The CycloCross Cup took place at Jackson Park in Chicago from Oct. 7 and 8 and included more than a dozen different competitions for junior athletes—as well as men and women.

Former track and field coach Linda Blade criticized the CCC for calling them “women’s events.”

“Race organizers of @usacycling need to stop calling these ‘women’s events.’ You are fooling nobody,” Ms. Blade wrote in a post on X. “These are ‘beta-male races’ where some women get to be involved. In the process, you are turning your ‘sport’ into a joke.”

In a statement on its website, CCC tells transgender athletes that it’s an inclusive organization that follows USA Cycling’s Transgender Athlete Participation policies, which let participants in nonelite races “self-select their gender.”

“Discrimination or harassment of any kind on the basis of race, color, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, sports ball team affiliation, or any other stupid idea someone comes up with to belittle others will not be tolerated at CCC events and may result in disqualification and/or being asked to leave,” CCC said in a statement.

At elite competition levels in international events, the conditions for men who want to compete as women are more strict and follow the recently updated guidelines from the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

The UCI policy says that, in order to be eligible to compete in international elite competitions, men who identify as women must declare their “gender identity is female” and then prove that their total testosterone level in serum has been below 2.5 nmol/L for at least 24 months and for the entire duration of desired eligibility to compete in the female category.

UCI President David Lappartient (R) speaks to the media about the fight against technological fraud during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on March 21, 2018. Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via AP

Political Backlash

The issue of female-identifying males competing in women’s sports has become a highly charged issue in the current culture wars gripping America.

Several months ago, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill banning transgender athletes from participation in girls’ and women’s sports, which opponents have condemned as discriminatory.

The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act establishes that women’s sports from middle school through college, including intramurals and club teams, are closed to males based on the biological sex listed on a student’s birth certificate.

“In Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports, and boys are going to play boys’ sports,” Mr. DeSantis said, speaking at an event in Jacksonville in June. “It’s not a message to anything other than saying we’re going to protect fairness in women’s sports.”

House Republicans passed federal legislation in April to ban transgender athletes from competing on school sports teams with women and girls.

Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) praised the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act after the bill passed a 219–203 vote along party lines.

“This is a great day for America and a great day for girls and women and for fairness in sports,” Mr. McCarthy said at the time. “House Republicans pledged before the last election or commitment to American women and girls in sports. Today, we kept that.”

Also, conservative lawmakers have been fighting transgender “X” markers on identification documents, such as passports and driver’s licenses.

U.S. passports allow a gender change or a nongender designation of X with no supporting documentation needed, while applicants for a Social Security card can change their gender at will, according to government agencies.

On the state level, driver’s licenses in 22 states and Washington allow an X designation for gender, while 16 states and Washington now allow an X on birth certificates, according to the think tank Movement Advancement Project.

On Capitol Hill, conservative lawmakers are pushing back.

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) introduced the Passport Sanity Act companion bill on Oct. 4 to one presented in the House prohibiting the secretary of state from allowing an X to be used on passports or a consular report of birth abroad.

“The last thing the State Department should be doing is wasting its time and your tax dollars pushing far-left gender ideology,” Mr. Vance said in a statement. “There are only two genders; passports issued by the United States government should recognize that simple fact.”

It has a better chance of passing.

Darlene McCormick Sanchez contributed to this report.