USA Today edited an op-ed after its publication and without consulting its author after determining that the author’s use of the word “male,” which she used to describe the transgender athletes she was forced to compete against in high school track, was “hurtful.”
In the original piece, former Connecticut high school runner Stacey Mitchell recounts losing four state championship races to biological males, and refers to her competitors as “male.” USA Today editors changed “male” to “transgender” on Tuesday without her knowledge or consent, and posted an editor’s note apologizing for the original phrasing.
“This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines. We regret that hurtful language was used,” the editor’s note reads.
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a legal advocacy organization representing Mitchell, has published the unaltered version on its website.
“That’s a devastating experience. It tells me that I’m not good enough; that my body isn’t good enough; and that no matter how hard I work, I am unlikely to succeed, because I’m a woman,” Mitchell wrote of her losses to male runners.
The track star and three of her fellow female athletes filed a lawsuit with ADF last year against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), which currently allows transgender…
