Transgender cycling champ: Excluding trans women from women's sports is like excluding black women from women's sports

Rachel McKinnon — a biological male who transitioned to female and placed first in a women's cycling world championship in October — has been making more headlines of late.

McKinnon wins championship in OctoberImage source: YouTube screenshot

Earlier this week, McKinnon blasted former swimmer Sharron Davies — who won an Olympic silver medal for Great Britain in 1980 — for daring to say that "those with a male sex advantage" shouldn't be allowed to compete in women's sports. McKinnon tweeted that Davies is "transphobic" — and in a separate tweet accused the former Olympian of "sharing hate speech."

McKinnon also called Martina Navratilova "transphobic" in the wake of the tennis legend's op-ed saying that transgender women competing against biological women is "insane and cheating." Navratilova — a lesbian — was booted from an LGBTQ advocacy group over her comments.

A new declaration

On the heels of ripping Davies and Navratilova, McKinnon — who's also a philosophy professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina — added a doozy: Excluding transgender women from women's sports is akin to excluding black women from women's sports.

Image source: Twitter

How did others react?

While some Twitter users supported McKinnon's declaration, others weren't buying it.

• "False equivalence, and you know it."
• "From which gender do black women transition to become women? Your lack of common sense is astonishing."
• "You are saying the biological differences between a black and a white woman are comparable to the biological differences between a transwoman and a ciswoman?"

Other users accused McKinnon of racism:

• "He is a white man identifying as a white woman claiming black women are exactly the same as whole ass men who transition! I think the f*** not! Take that racist and anti women men's rights stuff [somewhere] else cause this good black sis is not buying it!"
• "Ah, the racism rampant amongst white trans rears its ugly head yet again. No. There is zero comparison b/w exclusion based on race, and sex-separation b/c of clear male advantage. Your position [would] be cleaner if you argued against sex-separation altogether."
• "Black women aren't a subspecies of women. We are not socialized as men. We do not go through puberty as men. We do not live as men. Our bodies are not male. Stop using us as props in your weak arguments. All it does is reveal your own racism."
• "Black Women Are Women! Transwomen are a subset of men! Stop with this nonsense! As I black woman it's a false equivalence based on the same bulls**t white supremacy and patriarchy, entitlement that allows men to identify as women."

One user got into a debate with McKinnon that's worth pointing out:

Image source: Twitter

Image source: Twitter, redacted

Below is a video report that includes an interview with McKinnon who argued, "Trans women are women. Trans men are men ... to treat me as a different king of female or woman is inherently unjust." The relevant portion begins at the 3-minute mark:

(H/T: The College Fix)