WEBVTT - Stephen A's Take: Stephen A responds to Simone Biles standing up for Trans Athletes!

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<v Speaker 1>Now I want to get to a story that caught

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<v Speaker 1>my attention this past weekend, and that's the class between

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<v Speaker 1>olympian Simone Biles and Raleigh Gaines over the inclusion of

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<v Speaker 1>transgender athletes in women's sports. Gaines is a former NCAA

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<v Speaker 1>swimmer turned conservative pundit who joined a lawsuit against the

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<v Speaker 1>NCAA in March of twenty twenty four. The suit for

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<v Speaker 1>more than a dozen athletes accused the NCAA of violating

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<v Speaker 1>their Title nine rights while allowing transgender swimmer Leah Thomas

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<v Speaker 1>to compete at the national championships in twenty twenty two,

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<v Speaker 1>Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth, but only Thomas was

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<v Speaker 1>awarded the fifth place trophy for the two hundred yard freestyle.

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<v Speaker 1>Fast forward to last week, where Gaines spoke out against

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<v Speaker 1>another transgender athlete. Gaines targeted a Minnesota state high school

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<v Speaker 1>league for not allowing comments on their post about the

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<v Speaker 1>Chaplain Park girls team celebrating the state championships. Chaplin Park's

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<v Speaker 1>team includes a trans athlete, that prompted Simon Biles to

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<v Speaker 1>post this about Gains quote, You're truly sick all of

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<v Speaker 1>this campaigning because you lost the race, straight up sore loser.

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<v Speaker 1>You should be uplifting the trans community and perhaps finding

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<v Speaker 1>a way to make sports inclusive, or creating a new

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<v Speaker 1>avenue where trans people feel safe in sports. Instead you

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<v Speaker 1>bully them. One thing's for sure is no one in

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<v Speaker 1>sports is safe with you around end quote. Gains responded

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<v Speaker 1>to Biles in follow up posts, saying the seven time

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<v Speaker 1>gold medalist stance on transgender athletes was disappointing and labeled

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<v Speaker 1>her a quote male apologist at the expense of young

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<v Speaker 1>girl's dreams end quote. Then she went here, bringing in

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<v Speaker 1>Larry Nasser, a former national team doctor who sexually abused

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<v Speaker 1>a multiple US gymnasts, including Biles, under the guise of

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<v Speaker 1>medical treatment. She wrote, quote all the horrific sexual abuse

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<v Speaker 1>Simon Biles witnessed and spoke out against caused by one

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<v Speaker 1>man believes women should be forced to strip naked in

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<v Speaker 1>front of men to validate the man's feelings. You know

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<v Speaker 1>how many gold medals you'd have if your inclusive dream

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<v Speaker 1>came true? Zero? End quote, respectfully, Gains, I was with

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<v Speaker 1>you until that last quote. Respectfully, that's going a bit

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<v Speaker 1>too far. Talking about transgender women competing in sports is

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<v Speaker 1>one issue. Using a guy like Larry Nasser, one of

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<v Speaker 1>the most despicable human beings we've ever witnessed on this earth,

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<v Speaker 1>who molested and abused numerous women, numerous gymnasts, including Biles,

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<v Speaker 1>And to go that low gains you lost all credibility.

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<v Speaker 1>You could have made your argument without going that far.

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<v Speaker 1>No matter what Simone Biles said to you, how she

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<v Speaker 1>may disagree with you on your position, did not warrant

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<v Speaker 1>you to go that far. Certainly you're not suggesting that

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<v Speaker 1>it was okay for her to be molested. Certainly you're

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<v Speaker 1>not suggesting it was okay for her to be abused.

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<v Speaker 1>So why would you say something like that that's just cruel.

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<v Speaker 1>Just because she says something that hurt your feelings didn't

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<v Speaker 1>mean that you had to double down on it by

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<v Speaker 1>being a gazillion times worse, which Riley gains is what

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<v Speaker 1>you are at this particular moment of time. I'm speaking

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<v Speaker 1>specifically about you going that far. Having said that, the

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<v Speaker 1>points that you made to some Biles outside of the

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<v Speaker 1>Larry Nasa comment that shit gives us all cause to pause.

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<v Speaker 1>The reality is is that it is a disservice to

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<v Speaker 1>women in a lot of people's eyes that men transitioning

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<v Speaker 1>to women get to compete in women's sports. Leah Thomas

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<v Speaker 1>was a perfect example. Her highest ranking at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>her highest ranking as a male participant was like five

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<v Speaker 1>hundred and fifty fourth in the world. He transitioned into

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<v Speaker 1>being a woman and it was top ten. That speaks

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<v Speaker 1>for itself. You're born, you got an x Y chromosome.

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<v Speaker 1>It is what it is. It's different, and the reality

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<v Speaker 1>is is that there are an abundance of women out

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<v Speaker 1>there who have a right to feel the way that

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<v Speaker 1>Raleigh Gains feels Simone Biles. Now, whether it's right for

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<v Speaker 1>me or somebody else to say, it's a different argument.

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<v Speaker 1>But in the age that we're living in with Title

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<v Speaker 1>nine in existence, with us being protective of fairness and

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<v Speaker 1>equal rights and equal opportunity to women, to then piggyback

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<v Speaker 1>off of that and follow up on that years later

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<v Speaker 1>by allowing transgender athletes transitioning from male to female to

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<v Speaker 1>compete against women doesn't appear to be fair. And when

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<v Speaker 1>we lean on this argument about fear, fear fear, wait

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<v Speaker 1>a minute, somebody's not talking about your civil liberties. Somebody's

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<v Speaker 1>not talking about equality, somebody's not talking about those things. Living,

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<v Speaker 1>you allowing you to live and let live. They're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about competition in sports, and if you allow somebody to

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<v Speaker 1>compete in swimen, it's not gonna stop you from allowing

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<v Speaker 1>them to compete in boxing. It's not gonna allow you

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<v Speaker 1>to dis allot of competing in other sports. I remember

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<v Speaker 1>years ago when Ronda Ralsei joked about how she when

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<v Speaker 1>she was undefeated before a man, the newness put it

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<v Speaker 1>on her. No disrespect to Ronda Ralsey, but she was

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<v Speaker 1>talking about how she could beat Floyd Money Mayweather. Now

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<v Speaker 1>come on, now we now know what would have happened

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<v Speaker 1>to her. We knew it before, but we certainly knew

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<v Speaker 1>after what we saw on a Manda Nuna's do to

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<v Speaker 1>her and Holly Holmes, by the way, before that, we

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<v Speaker 1>saw that. We know that in most instances, even though

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<v Speaker 1>there are women that could beat some men out there,

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<v Speaker 1>buy and large, the elite women don't deserve to be

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<v Speaker 1>competing against the elite men. And by deserve, I mean

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<v Speaker 1>I'm not talking about warranted based on their credentials. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>talking about based on their gender. You shouldn't be competing

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<v Speaker 1>against men. I don't want to see a claricians shields

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<v Speaker 1>in the boxing ring against the Terrence Crawford or Tamorrow

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<v Speaker 1>Charlow or Canilo Alvarez. I don't want to see one

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<v Speaker 1>of these ladies in UFC going up against morob I

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<v Speaker 1>don't want to see them going up against I don't

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<v Speaker 1>want to see somebody going up against John Jones that's

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<v Speaker 1>a female. So when we're talking about it from that premise,

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<v Speaker 1>it's one thing for ladies to look at somebody like

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<v Speaker 1>me or somebody say who are you? It's another thing

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<v Speaker 1>entirely for ladies to be looking at ladies acting like

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<v Speaker 1>ladies don't have a right to feel like there's a

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<v Speaker 1>disadvantage for them if they're going up against a male

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<v Speaker 1>transitioning to female. We can't have it all, ladies and gentlemen.

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<v Speaker 1>We can't handle. We can't have it all. In my

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<v Speaker 1>if you ask me my preference, I hope a whole

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<v Speaker 1>bunch of men transitioning to women come out of the woodwork,

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<v Speaker 1>so we can have men going up against men, women

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<v Speaker 1>going up against women, and transgenders going up against transgenders.

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<v Speaker 1>That's fair. But what Riley Gaines is talking about does

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<v Speaker 1>seem a bit unfair, and she has a right to

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<v Speaker 1>express those thoughts without Simon Biles coming at her that

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<v Speaker 1>way just because she lost. She's talking about an unfair advantage,

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<v Speaker 1>and there's no one that can really dispute that if

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<v Speaker 1>you are male transitioning to female, that there is an

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<v Speaker 1>unfair advantage. I don't see women transitioning into men trying

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<v Speaker 1>to compete in men's sports. If it's happened, and I've

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<v Speaker 1>missed it, I've apologized, but I've missed it. I haven't

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<v Speaker 1>seen that. I haven't seen that. Sage still my former

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<v Speaker 1>colleague at ESPN, a conservative pundit, she had her own

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<v Speaker 1>thoughts on this matter, and let's read what she had

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<v Speaker 1>to say here. Easy to say this, Simon Bob, when

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<v Speaker 1>you only had to compete against fellow women, every one

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<v Speaker 1>of your Olympic medals came competing against fellow women. Raleigh

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<v Speaker 1>Gaines was not only forced to compete against a man,

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<v Speaker 1>but forced to share a locker room with a man.

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<v Speaker 1>That is sick, shocked, and disappointed that you'd attack another

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<v Speaker 1>woman who has done nothing but uplift other women. If

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<v Speaker 1>you think it makes sense to create a league for

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<v Speaker 1>trans people, go for it, use that huge platform of yours,

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<v Speaker 1>But to attack Raleigh for what she has done for

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<v Speaker 1>little girls who want to be the next Simone Biles

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<v Speaker 1>is sick. Maybe I would have used the other word

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<v Speaker 1>other than sick or whatever. But it's not like Sage

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<v Speaker 1>Steel is wrong. Based on what she described and the

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<v Speaker 1>facts that we know, Raley Gaines is perfectly within our

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<v Speaker 1>right to have the opinion that she had, as she's

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<v Speaker 1>an American citizen who's using the courts to make her argument,

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<v Speaker 1>which is what we do in our democratics. Whether you

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<v Speaker 1>like it or not, some mobiles, that's just the truth.

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<v Speaker 1>I respect where you're coming from. I respect your passion

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<v Speaker 1>the lookout for those you feel are being victimized by

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<v Speaker 1>a large segment of our population. I understand that. But

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<v Speaker 1>there are a lot of young ladies out there who

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<v Speaker 1>were born women that feel this is a flagrantly unfair advantage.

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<v Speaker 1>What about their feelings? What about theirs?