For his Sunday show, HBO’s John Oliver decided to take a deep dive into the world of transgender sports. The Last Week Tonight host tried to concede that the issue is maybe more complicated than bathroom preference, but what he ultimately ended up doing was missing the point as he argued that even in famous examples of transgender athletes winning competitions, the stories are more complicated.
In one example, Oliver recalled, “You may have seen this photo of two trans high-school runners in Connecticut coming first and second at a state track meet. They were the subject of a lawsuit claiming, among other things, their participation wasn't just unfair, it threatened to deprive their competitors of scholarships. But you should know, one of the plaintiffs actually beat one of those girls twice, just two days after the suit was filed. Also, most of the plaintiffs ended up getting scholarships, while these two did not.”
Another example Oliver cited earlier was a San Jose State University volleyball player. He directed viewers towards an ESPN article claiming the player in question had an average spike velocity of 50 miles per hour—about average for women’s volleyball—not 80 as originally claimed. But if ESPN is good enough for that, it is also good enough to add context to the Connecticut example.
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