The National Organization for Women (NOW) is finding itself in hot water after showing its support for transgender athletes in women’s sports – despite millions of female athletes calling it unfair. One of those athletes, Taylor Silverman, criticized NOW for abandoning its mission to protect women – and she did so on national television.
Who Is Taylor Silverman?
Taylor Silverman is a 29-year-old skateboarder from Kalamazoo, Michigan – she still competes, but she’s also the host of Boonies HQ, a YouTube show that promotes skateboarding content and skating culture from the backwoods.
In recent years, Silverman has made a name for herself as one of the harshest critics against transgenders competing in women’s sports. She has been defeated by a transgender in a skating competition several times before.
Taylor Silverman Calls for Fairness In Women’s Sports
In 2022, Silverman opened up about her personal experience competing against transgender athletes in a post on Instagram. She detailed three competitions where she competed against a transgender woman, and she came in second place twice.
At the time, she had recently placed second in a competition that saw her win $2,750 in total – while the transgender competitor, who won, walked away with $5,000. “I deserved to place first, be acknowledged for my win, and get paid,” she said in the caption.
Sent A Letter To RedBull Several Years Ago
The competition she was detailing was the Red Bull Cornerstone 2021 – and the transgender competitor who won it was named Lillian Gallagher. In an effort to air out her grievances, Silverman sent a letter to Red Bull Senior Sports Marketing Manager Erich Dummer.
“A biological man with a clear advantage won the women’s division, best trick, and also won multiple qualifiers,” she wrote – adding that it ‘took away the opportunity that was meant for women to place and earn money.’
Says She Is Being Bullied Into Silence
Red Bull allegedly ignored Silverman’s letter and refused to comment on the controversy. To make matters worse, her letter was met with an extreme amount of backlash from the transgender community, who described her as transphobic and a sore loser.
One blogger, Tim Pool, supported Silverman and the other athletes who weren’t given a fair opportunity to win. He offered to pay Silverman the extra $2,250 that was stolen from her, and offered to ‘cover the total lost revenue’ for all the other female athletes who would’ve placed higher.
College Athletes File Lawsuit Against The NCAA
In January 2022, the NCAA ruled that transgender athletes were allowed to compete in the category of their affirmed gender on a sport-by-sport basis. In March 2024, female athletes responded by filing a lawsuit against the NCAA over its policy.
The lawsuit, which includes 16 female athletes from various sports, accuses the NCAA of violating their rights under Title IX – a law that ‘prohibits discrimination based on sex in any education program or activity that receives federal financial assistance.’
National Organization For Women Responds
Earlier this month, the National Organization for Women (NOW), which vows to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, and eliminate discrimination, described the lawsuit as ‘white supremacist patriarchy’ in motion – as opposed to a fight for equality.
“Repeat after us: Weaponizing womenhood against other women is white supremacist patriarchy at work. Making people believe there isn’t enough space for trans women in sports is white supremacist patriarchy at work,” NOW wrote in their post.
Riley Gaines Leads Criticism Against NOW
Riley Gaines is a former competitive swimmer who has since been championed as an advocate against transgenders in women’s sports. She rose to prominence in 2022 after competing against Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer who has faced a lot of opposition since.
“I’ve never seen so many oppression buzzwords in one sentence. Apparently, advocating for fair sport makes me a white supremacist. I wonder if my attorney will agree,” Gaines wrote on X in March. “In case you were wondering, NOW stands for National Organization of Women lol.”
Silverman Slams NOW On Fox News Digital
Last week, Taylor Silverman shared her thoughts on the ongoing lawsuit in an interview with Fox News Digital. She took direct aim at NOW’s recent statement about white supremacy and detailed why she’s having a hard time taking the organization seriously.
“I take the National Organization for Women claiming that fairness in women’s sports is White supremacy about as seriously as I take them claiming men can be women,” she said. “They are blinded by this lie and desperate to scare people into silence.”
Takes Aim At Transgender Day of Visibility
Her comments come just a few weeks after she slammed the Biden Administration for officially proclaiming March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. Many people were offended because March 31 happened to be Easter Sunday.
“I think that the whole idea that we need a Transgender Day of Visibility is ridiculous because I agree that people who identify as trans have a lot of problems. I don’t think visibility is one of them,” Silverman said last week.
Transgenders Have New Holiday Every Month
Silverman went on to name a laundry list of different holidays and observations catered to the transgender community – including International Transgender Day of Visibility, International Asexuality Day, National Transgender HIV Testing Day, and Non-binary Parents Day.
“Look at these calendars and look at what our politicians and people in power are pushing and telling us,” Silverman said. “Go to a women’s sporting event, like a skateboarding contest, and you’ll see that they have no problem with visibility.”
LGBTQ Community Has History Of Disrespecting Religion
While Silverman is urging decision-makers to change their ideology, she’s not surprised at the offensive angle transgenders are taking in an effort to prove their point – citing an uptick in transgender athletes in recent years.
“Visibility is not an issue. And for this fall on Easter, it just goes along with this theme that I have noticed that all of this gender identity stuff, the LGBTQ stuff, has a theme of disrespecting religious people in our country and disrespecting God as a whole,” she added.
Carilyn Johnson Shares Her Thoughts
Among the many female athletes speaking out is Carilyn Johnson, a former Team USA championship runner who competed at all distances. In a recent post on X, she urged the National Organization for Women to ‘stop gaslighting women’.
“When the most prominent women’s rights organization tells women to sit down and shut up so that a group of entitled men can appropriate women’s identities for their own benefit, the group has devolved into a men’s rights organization,” she wrote.
