In a case with all the hallmarks of meriting future legal action, a college lacrosse coach has been fired for speaking against biological males competing in female sports.
According to the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), Oberlin College administrators forced Kim Russell to step down from her position as head women’s lacrosse coach.
The disciplinary action followed Russell’s post suggesting it was not fair to allow biological men to compete against women in sports where size and strength give the athlete a competitive advantage.
According to the Daily Caller, Russell acknowledged Emma Weyant as the “real winner” after losing to transgender athlete Lia Thomas in a 500-yard freestyle race during the 2022 NCAA women’s swimming championships.
The IWF highlighted Russell’s post and Oberlin College’s disciplinary move to reassign Russell to a desk job as “Employee Wellness Project Manager, “where she will have virtually no contact with students.”
Russell, a veteran coach, told Fox News: “I have been taken out of the role of coach, which is what I’ve done for 27 years.”
Russell complained: “I’ve been a P.E. teacher, a coach and a teacher of programs of wellness, yoga, all sorts of things, kickboxing … and [been] asked to take a role as employee wellness program manager, which would have no contact with students and be creating things – which is paperwork.”
Coach Russell has encouraged other coaches to speak up to create safe and fair competition environments for women
Bitter about the disciplinary action taken by Oberlin College, Russell asserts she was “burned at the stake” by administrators for standing up for women’s rights in athletics. Russell further alleged that administrators had repeatedly attacked her for her personal opinions on biological men competing in women’s sports.
Russell warned that the newer generations of women do not appreciate what older women fought for, according to the IWF.
“I am so passionate about this because the reason we have these opportunities to play and coach and to do the things we do is because of the women who came before me, who fought for Title IX, who fought for us to have these opportunities,” Russell told Fox News.
“And I don’t think that the younger generation even understands that these opportunities weren’t here years ago.”
Paula Scanlan, a former teammate of Lia Thomas and a current spokesperson for the IWF, said: “Hearing Kim Russell is no longer allowed to interact with students is so disappointing. It’s unbelievable that saying women’s sports are for females only would lead Oberlin College to take such an extreme step — it’s a reprimand and punishment.”
The Daily Caller reported that Oberlin College did not respond to requests for comment.
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