Newspaper columnist Matt Calkins, formerly with the Seattle Times, has confirmed he left the publication when officials there censored his comments that perhaps opposing men in women’s sports isn’t extreme.
It isn’t “transphobic,” he said.
And then got red-lined.
Calkins explains at Fox News that he simply expressed his opinion that “supporting separation of females and males in sports isn’t transphobic.”
But “phobic” is a favorite weapon of leftists and extremists on a number of issues across America these days.
Doubt Islam? It’s “Islamaphobia.” Doubt the homosexual lifestyle choice? “HOMOPHOBIC.” And of course, doubt the extremist agenda of the transgender industry that victimizes children with chemicals and body-mutilating surgeries? “Transphobic!”
Part of that fight is the demand by men who say they are women despite the science that says gender does not change who insist on being in women’s places.
Calkins’ censored column followed his exposure to the issue involving WNBA Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, who has been under attack for stating that women should have their own sports, without men on the teams.
He was at the game where Ahnaleigh Wilson, 16, was verbally bludgeoned by Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton, who verbally attacked the young girl to tears, over the issue of Wilson’s endorsement of Cunningham.
The column explained he was commenting on the resulting “category 5 hurricane.”
Calkins wrote the column about the “Save Women’s Sports” movement, only to see his editor delay it, and delay it, and then cancel it. Now he’s walking.
After 11 years as a sports columnist at the Seattle Times, I have decided to resign. It was entirely my choice, and it was not an easy one. The impetus was the Times declining to run a column I wrote from the perspective of two female student athletes who were opposed to…
— Matt Calkins (@Matt_Calkins) August 20, 2026
🚨Longtime sports columnist Matt Calkins resigned from The Seattle Times on Thursday after 11 years, saying the newspaper declined to publish a column he wrote presenting the views of two female student-athletes opposed to competing against biological males.
🟦CALKINS: “The… pic.twitter.com/Qx1iNILV8Y
— Lynnwood Times (@LynnwoodTimes) August 20, 2026
Matt Calkins has resigned from The Seattle Times after the paper declined to publish his column arguing that agreeing with Sophie Cunningham on women’s sports does not make someone transphobic.
Calkins chose to walk away rather than drop the column.
Photo via Reuters pic.twitter.com/nulV74SZJj
— TalkRadio 77 WABC (@77WABCradio) August 21, 2026
He wrote, “One thing Wilson emphasized to me at the rally was that she wasn’t anti-trans. Another student-athlete named Frances Staudt — who said she’s endured daily verbal abuse after refusing to play against a biological boy in a basketball game — echoed Wilson’s sentiment. So that was the thesis of my column … that supporting the separation of biological females and males doesn’t automatically make you transphobic, so let’s stop throwing those labels around.”
He said his departure “was exactly what I was prepared to do. This, after all, was one of several columns of mine that had been spiked at the Seattle Times.”
He said another questioned whether players for the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team were really the victims of discrimination in their equal-pay lawsuit. Another was a more general column on cancel culture in sports. “The last, written shortly after George Floyd’s death, implored people to listen to state-champion basketball coach Mike Bethea — a black man urging the public not to stereotype cops. The common theme? All of these challenged prevailing newsroom narratives and likely would have triggered the outrage mob.”
Regarding the publication, he said, “I also realize where the brass is coming from. The mob is frightening and does not forget. Lots of seemingly brave souls have submitted once activists got their hooks in them. If I had more people depending on me, perhaps I’d act similarly.”
He confirmed he’s scared down, and might be a “dental assistant” in a few years.
“All that’s certain is that I’m done holding back. The best things in life are free — speech being at the top of the list.”
