Former NFL football hero O.J. Simpson recently shared his opinion on whether transgender women should compete in transgender sports. He began by admitting that he has deliberately avoided the topic of transgender women in women’s sports, but not anymore, as he has to speak up.
The 74-year-old, who became controversial due to his murder and armed robbery charges, stated that the participation of trans women in cis women’s sports is “not fair.” However, his comment didn’t sit well with many people as it sparked waves of reactions from social media users.
What did Simpson have to say?
Sports should be equal and fair. pic.twitter.com/efsqiDpd7k
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) July 11, 2023
“There’s a subject that I tried to stay out of, but here lately, it’s hard to avoid. I saw Megan Rapinoe said that she would love to be competing against transgender women, and look, I’m all for it,” Simpson shared his thoughts in a Twitter video. “Look, you be whatever you want to be. To me, it doesn’t really matter.”
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He further said that a special category should be created for transgender women who wish to participate in sports. “It just isn’t fair. If you’re born a male or a female, I don’t think it’s fair in sports to have them competing against one another,” Simpson suggested. “Give them their category. Let the trans compete against trans, the female against the females, and the male against the males.”
Reactions to Simpson’s transgender comments
Simpson’s video, which he captioned, “Sports should be equal and fair,” received a lot of backlash on social media and some supportive comments. A user thought he should have stayed away from the controversy, as always, to protect his reputation. “OJ wading into the controversy. I hope this doesn’t tarnish his image,” they wrote. Another person, who “was a big fan of him,” expressed their disappointment.
However, some people agreed with the ex-sportsman, including someone who had been anticipating his comments on the subject. “Thanks, Juice! The world was waiting for you to chime in on this!!” the user wrote. “I was REALLY wanting to know OJs opinion on transgender athletes competing in female sports,” another user responded.