Woke Wordplay: USA Today CHANGES Word 'Male' As 'Hurtful Language' - In Female Track Star’s Op-Ed

P. Gardner Goldsmith | May 28, 2021
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Editors at USA Today appear to have changed the word “male” to “transgender” throughout Chelsea Mitchell’s op-ed on her experiences competing against males in women’s school-based sports. 

The Federalist’s Jordan Davidson sheds light:

USA Today retroactively edited an article written by a student that affirmed biological sex to instead appease a woke mob.

The original article, authored by collegiate track star Chelsea Mitchell, detailed how authorizing biological males who claim to be females to participate on women’s high school or college sports teams ultimately hurts female athletes.

But USA Today’s editorial staff had to exercise their twisted sense of irony -- or, perhaps, political correctness – and soften her language to the point of farcically harming her point. For example, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) published the original USA Today version of Mitchells piece, and in it, she opens thus:

It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.

Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage: a male body.

But, in the sad manner of deranged cancel culture – an anti-culture fueled by collectivist political correctness in its most pathological form – USA Today felt compelled to change the references to males competing against women. They decided to destroy the point of the piece, making the above passages read:

It’s February 2020. I’m crouched at the starting line of the high school girls’ 55-meter indoor race. This should be one of the best days of my life. I’m running in the state championship, and I’m ranked the fastest high school female in the 55-meter dash in the state. I should be feeling confident. I should know that I have a strong shot at winning.

Instead, all I can think about is how all my training, everything I’ve done to maximize my performance, might not be enough, simply because there’s a transgender runner on the line with an enormous physical advantage.

Notes The Federalist’s Davidson:

Days after the corporate media outlet published the column, however, USA Today editors caved to pressure from activists and deleted all mentions of the word ‘male’ in the article, replacing them with “transgender” to avoid offending the captious complainers.

‘This column has been updated to reflect USA TODAY’s standards and style guidelines,’ the editor’s note at the top of the article states. ‘We regret that hurtful language was used.’

Hurtful language.

How is the truth about chromosomal reality now, suddenly, hurtful?

How is it beneficial to change a story about genetically male athletes competing against females in FEMALE SPORTS, into a story that misses the point about said MALES BEING MALE and athletically superior to females?

 

Related: Sports Transgender Ender? Miss. Passes Bill Banning Men From Women’s Sports

The ADF is representing Mitchell in the suit “Soule v. Connecticut Association of Schools,” and ADF attorney Christiana HolcombTweeted this, in part, about the USA Today change:

.@USATODAY published our client Chelsea Mitchell’s opinion about the unfairness she experienced being forced to compete against male athletes. But after backlash from the woke mob, editors unilaterally changed Chelsea’s words & called them ‘hurtful language.’

Holcomb continued:

What was the ‘hurtful language’ that editors deleted from Chelsea's opinion piece three days after publication? The word ‘male.’

And she concluded:

USA Today violated its principles to appease the mob. This blatant censorship violates the trust we place in media to be honest brokers of public debate. Chelsea’s experience & viewpoint matters. That’s why we’re posting her original piece here https://adflegal.org/blog/i-was-fastest-girl-connecticut-transgender-athletes-made-it-unfair-fight….

So, thanks to USA Today’s editors, we have a SECOND issue that has arisen from this insane Connecticut “Men-Posting-As-Women-In-Women’s-Sports” issue, and that is the fact that USA Today appears to be stuck in a mode of censorship against reality. Writes Davidson:

While USA Today did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment, the corrupt corporate media outlet has a long track record of using its editorial power to subdue dissenting opinions or push certain agendas. In addition to often issuing partisan ‘fact checks’ that seek to prop up slanted, unnecessary, and long-winded explanations to cover for Democrats, the corporate media outlet also employs college students to assist Big Tech in censoring media they don’t agree with or like.

And he adds:

In April, USA Today edited an op-ed from Stacey Abrams after it was published to mask that the failed Democrat politician initially endorsed corporate boycotts of Georgia over its new election integrity law. The piece, first published on March 31, originally called for corporations to pull their business from the state as an “impassioned response,” but after woke activists lashed out at Abrams and others for potentially hurting black-owned businesses, USA Today lent her a favor and edited out her support. An editor’s note was not added until after media organizations such as The Federalist asked about the stealthy change.

And there seems to be no end to USA Today’s dishonorable behavior.

But, as more and more people recognize the slippery editorial policies, they will seek other news resources, so there’s an incentive for the editors to step away from the “woke” bar.

We’ll see if they do. Meanwhile, people like Ms. Mitchell suffer, and so will readers who are interested in truth.

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