United States women’s soccer icon Megan Rapinoe is speaking out against a recent ruling that bars transgender women from competing in the Olympics.
Starting with the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, transgender athletes will no longer be permitted to participate in the women’s category. As a result, transgender women would instead have to compete in the men’s division.
According to the International Olympic Committee, the updated policy declares that “eligibility for any female category event at the Olympic Games or any other IOC event, including individual and team sports, is now limited to biological females, determined on the basis of a one-time SRY gene screening.”
The IOC has described the rule as both “evidence-based” and “expert-informed,” noting that testing methods could include saliva samples, cheek swabs, or blood tests.
Rapinoe, however, strongly disagrees with the move. Speaking on a recent episode of her podcast *A Touch More*, she didn’t hold back, labeling it a “really horrible rule.”
“Unfortunately, we have to say that all in the same breath as a really horrible rule came out from the International Olympic Committee,” Rapinoe said. “They announced a new policy that they’re calling, I can’t even believe that they’re calling it this because it has nothing to do with protecting women, I feel like two people, who played at the very highest level for every competition that you possibly could, don’t agree with this and never felt like this was an issue at all, ‘The Protection of the Female [Women’s] Category.’”
She also challenged the idea that the decision is grounded in science.
“We already know that biology, as much as we want it to be just nice and clean and tight and perfectly in one category and another, it’s not,” Rapinoe said. “We know that. So, now what we’re doing is subjecting everybody, all women and all people who are identifying as women to this really invasive testing that only to me says like, ‘Oh we’re just trying to whittle it down to a certain type of woman.’ Is that what we’re doing? That’s really the whole game here.
“They sort of lost the battle on gay marriage and lost the battle on all these things so it’s just like, ‘We’re gonna have this whole campaign for all these years to just hate trans people,’ which is such a small percentage of the population. It’s actually on a single hand when we’re talking about sports. And just like thread the absolute tightest needle thread that you possibly could.”
The former U.S. star went even further, suggesting the ruling may be politically motivated—specifically pointing to the influence of Donald Trump and his administration.
“This committee is framing it as based in science, which it’s not,” she said. “This will ultimately just prevent people from competing within the women’s category that they feel like they have an unfair advantage. It’s just really hateful. There’s been so few athletes that are trans or competing as trans and it’s so blatant on its face. It’s a total acquiescence to the Trump administration and to really right-wing conservative politics that really is just bringing down so much hate against such a small percentage of people who are just trying to live their life. It’s just horrible and I’m just sickened by it, really.”
Needless to say, Rapinoe’s words led to a lot of reactions on social media.
“All this fuss for less than 1% of the population is diabolical,” one person wrote in a post on X.
“This is a really complex issue, and it’s clear both sides feel strongly about fairness and inclusion. It’s going to take more than headlines to actually find a balance everyone can agree on,” someone else added.
“Using ‘science’ as a shield for exclusion is just a convenient excuse. This policy isn’t about fairness—it’s about control and gatekeeping in women’s sports,” another person wrote.
“Makes it sound like science… which it’s not but that’s exactly where the debate gets messy. Megan Rapinoe is calling it hateful, while the International Olympic Committee says it’s about fairness. This isn’t a simple right vs wrong issue it’s two completely different definitions of fairness colliding… and neither side is backing down,” someone else added.
It’s clear Rapinoe strongly opposes the decision and is using her platform to push back against it.
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