ESPN broadcaster Sam Ponder was attacked by USA Today columnist Nancy Armour in an op-ed for her support of fairness in women’s sports.
On Sunday, Armour slammed Ponder in her column titled “What ESPN’s Sam Ponder calls ‘fairness’ is plain old bigotry” for her support of swimmer Riley Gaines championing the crusade in keeping biological men out of women’s sports.
“Don’t be fooled by the people who screech about ‘fairness’ to cloak their bigotry toward transgender girls and women, the transgender girls and women who have the audacity to want to play sports, in particular,” she wrote.
Armour referred to Ponder’s contribution as “hate,” “fear” and “ignorance” and also called out swimmer Gaines in the process.
“ESPN’s Samantha Ponder is the latest to tell on herself, using a tweet by anti-trans activist Riley Gaines to ‘fight for the integrity of Title IX‘ and then patting herself on the back for her ‘support’ of women’s sports,” Armour continued.
She continued to attack Ponder, claiming that her “quest for fairness” was an act.
“There has been no shortage of stories in the last year about the actual ways in which women athletes are being treated unfairly and robbed of opportunities to participate. USA TODAY Sports, for one, did an entire series on the subject, detailing how most schools aren’t providing equitable funding for their men’s and women’s programs, are short-changing women athletes on scholarship money and are manipulating numbers to make it look as if they’re complying with Title IX, and how the federal government is doing little to stop it,” she continued.
Armour expressed her frustration that Ponder chose to use selective outrage by speaking about this issue rather than women in sports not receiving the same opportunities as men in sports.
I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls https://t.co/teNoMDWNW4
— Samantha Steele Ponder (@samponder) May 25, 2023
She wrote:
“Did Ponder use her platform to express outrage at any of this? Urge her nearly half-million followers on Twitter to write or call their representatives and ask that women be given the funding and opportunities they rightfully deserve? Did she publicly participate in any of the many excellent documentaries, videos and commentary ESPN did to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX last year? Or even Tweet about them?”
Armour added, “No, she did not. Her public concern about ‘fairness’ for female athletes starts and stops with the miniscule (sic) number of transgender women who are participating in sports.”
Additionally, she accused Ponder of being a threat to “the most vulnerable in our society.”
“Acceptance, be it in the form of support from family and friends or being able to partake in sports and other social activities, can reduce the risk of harm. Instead, Ponder endangers these already in-peril people by further amplifying the bogeyman that cisgender women’s participation in sports is being threatened by transgender girls and young women,” she noted.
Armour concluded her op-ed with more accusations against Ponder and her intentions.
“If Ponder truly wanted to champion women’s sports, she’s had ample opportunity. But she hasn’t. Because this has nothing to do with ‘fairness,'” she said.
On May 25, Ponder responded to a post shared by Gaines on her Twitter page, showing messages from fans encouraging her in her fight to protect women’s sports.
“I barely said anything publicly abt this issue & I’ve had so many ppl msg me, stop me in the street to say thank you+ tell me stories abt girls who are afraid to speak up for fear of lost employment/being called hateful. It is not hateful to demand fairness in sports for girls,” Ponder wrote in the caption.
