TikTok notified XX-XY Athletics on Tuesday that its account “has been permanently suspended because it doesn’t comply with our advertising policies.” No mention of what policy the brand was violating.
Here’s the ad in question.
How dare we stand up for women’s sex-based rights?
I launched the brand XX-XY Athletics on March 25. It is the only athletic brand standing up for women’s sports and female athletes. The brand is for the protection of women’s sports and spaces because it is compassionate to advocate for women’s rights. We are against the inclusion of males in women’s sports and spaces because it is unfair and often unsafe for women and girls.
We are not for banning anyone. We support the recent decision by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics that women’s sports remain female, while the current male category shifts to “open to all.” This eligibility policy would allow everyone, no matter how they identify, to compete in sports and enjoy all of the developmental advantages of doing so and uphold fairness for women.
We are unapologetic about our goal of protecting women’s sports and spaces and standing up for truth. And the truth is male biological advantage is the single biggest determinant of athletic performance.
To allow males who say they are women to compete in women’s sports when they are stronger and faster than females is an affront to women, an erasure of the original intent of Title IX, and astonishingly misogynistic, which is why, in the ad, we say, “Don’t let men tell us how to be good girls.”
Let’s face it: It is male bullies who identify as female who are telling us to sit this one out. My answer to that is an unequivocal no.
Sadly, in the 2018-2019 school year, girls’ participation in high school sports declined for the first time in 30 years. I won’t stand by and let that decline continue.
I competed as an elite gymnast for nearly 10 years. I was a member of the national team for seven years and the 1986 national champion. By competing in sports, I learned resilience. I learned that if I work at something, even if I can’t do it at first, I will master it eventually. I learned to maintain focus in times of stress. I learned discipline.
All of these skills have benefited me in my adult life and career, and I won’t sit by and allow males to take over women’s sports because they want to. For those who say, “Well it isn’t that many, just be nice and let them,” I would say: There are near 600 examples of males who identify as female participating in women’s sports and taking medals, team berths, sponsorship, dollars and scholarships away from hardworking women.
The frequency of these instances is accelerating. And even one male harming a female athlete or taking away her hard-won trophy is one too many.
I have been an advocate for the safety of women and girls in sports since 2008, when I wrote the book Chalked Up, which exposed the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse that is far too common in the gymnastics culture. I was smeared as a liar and a grifter for writing about my experience, which was patently true and exposed more broadly as such when former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar was arrested and convicted for sexually abusing over 500 athletes under the guise of medical treatment.
I was harassed and bullied and canceled by my own community of gymnasts and fellow Team USA teammates. I didn’t back down then, and I won’t back down now.
This is why I wrote the words in that ad. TikTok, take note: I will not be quiet, sit down, be nice. I am not a bigot because you say so. And I won’t let the voices of a few silence me for staying something with which most people agree.
Despite the fact that TikTok is denying me and my brand the ability to reach the close to 50% of people under the age of 30 who spend time on TikTok, I’m not giving up. Sports taught me resilience, and I’m applying it now to get my fledgling business off the ground. I won’t stop getting the XX-XY Athletics message out there.
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Gallup’s opinion research showed last summer that 70% of the country agrees that women’s sports should be for women. As awareness grows, so does support for equal opportunity for women and girls in sports. Most are just too afraid to say so and be smeared as a bigot.
But XX-XY Athletics aims to change all that. If you stand up in defense of women’s sports, you will not stand alone. Be honest. Be brave. Fight for women. We’ve come too far to give up now.
Jennifer Sey is a USA champion gymnast, producer of the 2020 Emmy-winning documentary Athlete A on Netflix, and founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics.