Lafayette Reporter

MADISONVILLE, La. – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) authored an op-ed in National Review addressing the importance of protecting athletic opportunities for women and girls. The piece, which argues against allowing biological men to compete against biological women, was initially published in Louisiana’s Gannett-owned USA Today Network papers.

USA Today removed the article a few days after publication without notifying Kennedy’s team or its readers. According to Fox News, USA Today cited "loaded language" as the reason for pulling the piece, specifically objecting to the term “biological male.”

Key excerpts from Kennedy's op-ed now published in National Review include:

“Many fair-minded people reject the idea that women and girls who work hard to develop their athletic talents must sacrifice their opportunities, privacy and safety to promote gender activism. I’m one of them.

“Louisiana is full of fair-minded people. We recognize that it’s common sense for boys and girls to compete in separate leagues. That’s why a bipartisan coalition in the Louisiana legislature passed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act to prevent biological boys from competing against biological girls in our elementary and high schools and from sharing their locker rooms.

“Protecting women and girls in sports doesn’t need to be a partisan issue. Congress should follow Louisiana’s leadership and do more to protect girls, their sports, their scholarships, and their futures from a social experiment that is already proving to be unwise.”

The Shreveport Times and seven other USA Today publications in Louisiana initially published Kennedy’s op-ed on May 11 but removed it a few days later without notifying Kennedy’s office or readers, resulting in a “404” error message.

Kennedy’s office contacted the Shreveport Times about the “404” message on May 14. On May 20, USA Today informed Kennedy's office that it had removed the op-ed due to "loaded language," including the phrase “biological male.”

In a statement to Fox News, Kennedy criticized Gannett's decision: “[The] USA Today Network apparently does not like the way I express myself. They think they are the speech police. Drunk on certainty and virtue, they think they are our moral teacher. This attitude is why so many Americans have lost confidence in the media. The media is not going to win that trust back until they return to neutrality instead of advocacy. Most people don’t support allowing biological men to participate in women’s sports because they think that will bastardize sports, skew the results, and hurt women. Other people disagree. Gannett should simply report the two sides and not try to silence the position it disagrees with.”

Read Kennedy’s full op-ed in National Review here.

Watch Kennedy’s speech on protecting women’s sports here.