Latest news with #JuliePeterson
Toronto Sun
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Letters to the Editor, July 12, 2025
Saturday letters Photo by Illustration / Toronto Sun BIKE STAND Re 'Female cyclist defends decision not to take podium with transgender winner' (Dan Bilicki, Jul 8): It is truly appalling that this would be allowed in professional women's sports. I am so proud of cyclist Julie Peterson for standing her ground on this terrible woke ideology. When do we draw the line on this apparent nonsense? It truly tells me that anything goes, including this ridiculous notion that men are allowed to compete in women's sports. Perhaps there should be a separate transgender category in sports? Just saying. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Thomas McKenna Toronto (Some sports associations have taken that stand) NO SURPRISES Some things are complete surprises. But here are a few that aren't — this morning the sun rose in the east and then set in the west; U.S. President Donald Trump created and then rescinded additional tariffs; CBC allegedly 'sidelined, retaliated against' and denied 'editorial access and institutional support' to broadcaster and host Travis Dhanraj due to his alleged conservative diversity. Tom C. Newell Niagara Falls (To be continued tomorrow and the next day and…) STRIKEOUT Major League Baseball is to try out its robotic umpire calling strikes and balls. Hmmm??? Perhaps major league all-stars should send up a 'robot hitter.' Yes, my house robot wrote this. Ron St. Louis Welland (Robot in the on-deck circle) NHL Editorial Cartoons World World Relationships
National Post
08-07-2025
- Politics
- National Post
Female cyclist defends decision to not take podium with transgender winner
A female cyclist took a stand by not taking a stand — on the podium. Article content Julie Cutts Peterson refused to take to the stage after finishing second in a women's cycling race last week that was won by a transgender athlete. Article content Article content Article content 🏆 A man won the @usacycling women's masters 55-59 national championship road race today. Here's "Katheryn/KJ" (James) Phillips proudly standing on the top step. Second place and rightful winner Julie Peterson is absent from the podium.👍 Why does USAC continue to allow this? — 🚲 (@i_heart__bikes) July 1, 2025 Article content 'At the finish line, I was upset. I said, 'I did not want to race against a man,'' Peterson said, referring to a post-race statement that made the crowd gasp. 'In my mind, I was like, 'I can say that, I have freedom of speech.' Article content 'I was raised believing in the Bible where men are created by God and God created women from men, I was born and raised in America, where I learned my pronouns and I took science classes that taught me about XX and XY and I believe that most Americans and people worldwide would support men not being in women's categories.' Article content Peterson came in second place to Katheryn 'KJ' Phillips — a transgender athlete who was born a biological male — at the Lyons Masters National Championships in Wisconsin on July 1. Article content Peterson is one of several veteran female cyclists who have spoken out against USA Cycling, claiming the organization failed to disclose the participation of a transgender athlete. Article content Article content Peterson said she only knew that a transgender athlete was in the race after Phillips came 'out of nowhere' during the final sprint. Article content Article content 'I knew at that sprint that that was a man's sprint,' Peterson said, while noting her experience riding among both men and women. Article content It was a shock to Peterson and other competitors, who claim that Phillips' name was not included on the registration list, 'which means that we were not given the information that he would be racing in our category before the race started.' Article content
Fox News
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Outraged female cyclists expose 'deception' after trans competitor dominates championship race
Veteran female cyclists are speaking out against USA Cycling after they claim the organization failed to disclose the participation of a transgender athlete in a recent race. "It was hidden from us," competitor Debbie Milne told "Fox & Friends" Thursday. Milne, who placed seventh in the Lyons Masters National Championships in Wisconsin, explained she and fellow cyclists typically review the list of registered athletes ahead of a race to assess the competition. But she said neither she nor Julie Peterson, who placed in second, saw the name of a transgender competitor, Kate "KJ" Phillips, on the entry list. "Catherine Phillips, KJ's name, was not on that list. And I checked it up all the way to the point of closure when we couldn't register online anymore," said Milne. Phillips went on to win first place in the race. Peterson declined to stand on her second-place podium during the awards ceremony in protest. Milne called Peterson's decision "difficult" but supported the choice, saying she would've done the same in her position. "She's [Peterson] a class athlete. We respect our sport," Milne said, explaining both athletes felt disrespected by the lack of transparency from race organizers after decades devoted to the sport. "We respect podiums. It's really tough to do something that significant. It's disrespect," she said. "She [Peterson] felt that there had not been transparency." According to Milne, neither she nor Peterson believe the omission of Phillips' name was accidental, referring to the incident as "deception." She said Peterson later got confirmation Phillips had been registered since mid-June, long before the online list closed. The cyclist added that, had she known, she might have reconsidered spending hundreds of dollars and traveling over 400 miles to compete. Milne decried a lack of fairness in USA Cycling's transgender athlete guidelines. USA Cycling currently permits transgender women to race in female divisions, but under certain conditions. Athletes need to submit a signed declaration affirming they identify as a female, and they need to meet criteria laid out in the group's Elite Athlete Fairness Evaluation Process. Writing in part on their website: "The Policy recognizes the need to ensure that everyone, irrespective of gender identity, can participate in cycling in a safe, harassment-free environment," adding they look to ensure no participant has an "unfair and disproportionate advantage." Milne pointed out that unlike USA Cycling, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), considered the world governing body for cycling, has a policy that restricts transgender women from competing in female-designated events.
Fox News
02-07-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Trans athlete wins USA Cycling women's event as female opponents protest and speak out
A trans-identifying athlete won a women's cycling event that was officially sanctioned by USA Cycling on Tuesday, prompting female opponents to protest and speak out. The trans athlete, Kate Phillips, won first place at the Lyons Masters National Championships in Wisconsin on Tuesday. Phillips beat out veteran women's cyclist Julie Peterson for the gold, and Peterson then refused to take the podium at the medal ceremony in protest. "You could clearly see the power that he had," Peterson told Fox News Digital about Phillips. Peterson said she wasn't even aware that Phillips had registered for the event until she had already registered herself and even argued with officials about the situation. "If I had known, I wouldn't have spent thousands of dollars in travel and time off work to come and do a race," Peterson said. "I said, 'I don't want to race against a man,' and they quickly scolded me and said 'Oh, you can't call him a man,' and I'm like 'Well, he is a man,' so I was quickly scolded and corrected that it is a woman and I don't even know what to say." Veteran women's cyclist Debbie Milne competed in the Tuesday event, finishing in seventh place. Milne also spoke out against USA Cycling for allowing Phillips to compete. "To be fair to all humans, if we want to say him or her, he was born a biological male, that is a fact," Milne told Fox News Digital. "And that is the thing that makes it an unfair advantage. Whatever has happened after that is a whole different topic. "I've raced for 25 years in conditions that only women can understand. There's a lot that only a born female woman goes through because of the cycles that we have. Even that alone is something that a man-born biological male can never experience. There's nothing that can stimulate that, when you show up to the race and you are at the worst point of the monthly cycle and you know you're at a disadvantage." Milne also said she wasn't aware of the trans athlete's participation ahead of the race. "I totally did not expect this, to drive 13 hours, to come and do a national championship," Milne said. "I had no idea, I'd like to have known that's what the terms were if I came. But that wasn't even made known to me." Fellow veteran women's cyclist Kristina Gray, who did not compete against Phillips on Tuesday, wanted to speak out in support of her female peers because she said she's also had to compete against trans athletes in cycling as an Oregon native. "I have in my last 10 years of racing, I've had to race against biological males, I've been forced to be on the podium with many of them, more recently the last five years," Gray said. "In Oregon, every almost weekend, there is a biological male in our races, every weekend, practically." Fox News Digital has reached out to USA Cycling and Phillips for comment. The USA Cycling transgender eligibility policy allows for biological males to compete in the women's category under certain conditions: Several other Team USA national governing bodies have come under scrutiny for their transgender eligibility policies over the last year. USA Gymnastics removed its transgender eligibility policy this year, and is currently assessing it. "In May, USAG removed its policy to assess compliance with the current legal landscape," read a USA Gymnastics statement provided to Fox News Digital. USA Fencing announced in April that it is preparing to change its gender-eligibility policy, after a viral protest by women's fencer Stephanie Turner sparked mass backlash and federal intervention by protesting a trans opponent. The organization said it is preparing to amend its current policies that allow biological males to compete with women and girls in the event that it is "forced" to change them. USA Track and Field (USATF) official transgender eligibility policy now references the World Athletics guidelines on its official webpage. USATF previously referenced the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s policy, as seen in an archive via Wayback Machine. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
