ESPN announcer Samantha Ponder backs Riley Gaines, demands fairness for women in sports

ESPN announcer Samantha Ponder has joined the gender debate by speaking out against the Biden Administration’s proposed Title IX reforms that seek to prohibit bans on trans-identified students competing in school sports categories that align with their subjective gender identity.

The ESPN star broke ranks with her employer in a tweet Wednesday when she called out the unfairness of allowing trans-identified males to compete against women. The network has vocally supported trans-identified male athletes competing in female categories, and even honored trans-identified male swimmer Lia Thomas during Women's History Month.

Ponder, host of Sunday NFL Countdown, said Biden’s reform would “take away so many opportunities for biological women and girls in sports.”

“It is a shame that we are needing to fight for the integrity of Title IX in 2023 and the reason it was needed in the first place,” she added.

Title XI was enacted in 1972 with the aim of prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools or education programs that receive federal funding.

Under Biden’s proposed change, any elementary or middle school that banned trans-identified students from competing in the sports category aligning with their gender identity would no longer receive federal funding.

According to the Daily Mail, the Biden Administration argues that there would never be justification to exclude elementary school children who believe themselves to be members of the opposite sex from school sports.

Ponder’s first foray into the heated gender debate was in response to swimmer Riley Gaines objecting to a video made by Lia Thomas. Gaines was forced to compete against Thomas in 2022, and has been an outspoken advocate for female-only sports ever since.

In the video, Thomas, who went from being ranked 462nd in the male category to winning first place in the female, urged viewers to oppose Biden’s proposed reform, arguing that the changes don’t go far enough to protect trans athletes.

Thomas stated that excluding high school and college students from protection, “under the guise of competitive fairness,” was discrimination.

“The rule is a good start,” said Thomas. “However, it is not enough during this time of intense anti-trans backlash. The trans community needs explicit protections for discrimination in order to live your lives freely and equally.”

Thomas then goes on to urge viewers to pressure the Biden Administration to amend the rule to cover all students.

“Under the guise of competitive fairness? Are you really trying to say you would have won a national title against the men? Does it not break your heart to see women lose out on these opportunities?” Gaines tweeted in response.

“The Biden Admins proposed bill denies science, truth, and common sense,” she added.

Gaines called Thomas’s take “selfish” and one that shows “an utter disregard for women."

“The Biden Administration is actively and aggressively working to pass laws that erase decent and fair treatment for women in sports,” she said.

Last month, Gaines called out ESPN’s decision to honor Thomas’s contribution to women’s sports.

"Lia Thomas is not a brave, courageous woman who EARNED a national title. He is an arrogant, cheat who STOLE a national title from a hardworking, deserving woman. The @ncaa is responsible,” tweeted Gaines in March.

"If I was a woman working at ESPN, I would walk out. You're spineless @espn #boycottESPN”