The USOPC has banned transgender athletes from competing for Team USA, impacting the upcoming Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games and the LA28 Summer Olympics.

I was genuinely looking forward to baseball returning to the Olympics—especially with the Games coming back to the United States in 2028. But now? I’m not even sure I’ll watch, let alone continue covering the Olympics, after this latest act of cruelty. There aren’t even that many transgender athletes trying to compete. Yet instead of standing for inclusion and integrity, the USOPC has chosen to align Team USA with the agenda of a racist, convicted felon whose political movement is built on fear, fascism, and exclusion.

It’s bad enough that the NCAA—an organization that once pulled postseason tournaments from North Carolina over the discriminatory HB2—has now joined the USOPC in capitulating. This is the same HB2 that forced me to come out publicly before I was ready, just to protect myself. The organizations that once claimed to champion fairness and equality have now folded in the face of hate.

Let’s be clear: it was never about bathrooms. Conservative anti-LGBTQ groups like the Heritage Foundation lost the battle over marriage equality and simply moved on to their next target—transgender Americans like me. Their goal has always been erasure: the removal of our rights, our visibility, our humanity. And now Team USA, a symbol of national pride and unity, has been turned into a tool of division.

This isn’t just a policy decision—it’s a warning. And we’re seeing institutions like the USOPC and NCAA fall in line years before LA28 even begins.

I have the same right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as anyone else. Sure, I’m more likely to own, cover, or root for a team than play for one, but that doesn’t change the principle. Transgender Americans deserve the right to compete. To exist. To be free of fear. And the current administration’s anti-trans executive orders don’t just hurt Americans—they put international athletes and tourists at risk, too. If you’re planning to attend LA28, I’d think twice.

Why should transgender Americans be punished simply for being who we are? Why did Team USA choose to align with fascism and fear over fairness and inclusion? We are not in a functioning democracy. A narrow electoral majority endorsed a man who incited a violent attack on our Capitol. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to sit quietly while he and his enablers destroy everything we hold dear.

None of this is normal. None of it is okay. And if you think it ends with trans athletes, you’re wrong. Immigrants with no criminal history are being detained or deported under horrifying conditions. We have to name these facilities for what they are: concentration camps. If history is any guide, transgender Americans—and anyone else deemed a threat to the state—could be next.

LA28 was supposed to be a moment of celebration for Los Angeles, a show of resilience after climate disasters and political strife. But instead, Team USA now risks becoming a global emblem of state-sanctioned transphobia and exclusion.

I could have published this on my Buttondown newsletter. But Solzy at the Movies gives me a broader platform—and I will not be silent. Not while the State Department is reportedly tracking passport applications in case an injunction is overturned. Not while transgender athletes are barred from representing their own country. Not while Team USA, once a symbol of unity, has become a gatekeeper of hate.

Because of the USOPC’s complicity, it’s unlikely I’ll continue with plans to cover Milan-Cortina 2026 or LA28. Why should I? Team USA has made one thing perfectly clear: there’s no place for people like me. back following this year’s awful wildfires? But now, it’s just going to be another case of transphobia being federally mandated law.

LA28 will take place July 14-30, 2028 (Olympic Games) and August 15-27, 2028 (Paralympic Games).

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