Oberlin College women’s lacrosse head coach Kim Russell is speaking out about biological males competing in women’s sports in a documentary for the Independent Women’s Forum.
Russell reposted a headline sarcastically congratulating then-Virginia swim star Emma Weyant for the victory over Lia Thomas, a transgender female.
Russell wrote in the post, “Congratulations to Emma Weyant, the real woman who won the NCAA 500-yard freestyle event,” “What do you believe? I can’t be quiet on this… I’ve spent my life playing sports, starting & coaching sports programs for girls & women..”
One of Russell’s players brought her March 2022 post to the attention of the administration at the liberal arts college in Ohio, which set off a series of disciplinary meetings with the administration.
Russell says in a video documentary released Tuesday by the Independent Women’s Forum:
“I was called in for a meeting to the athletic director’s office with the athletic director and assistant AD saying, ‘What were you thinking? Why would you do that?’”
“I immediately felt like a little kid being yelled at and told I was wrong,” said Russell, Oberlin’s head coach, “People saying, ‘A transwoman is a woman. How can you not think that?’”
“Chairs were set up in a huge circle. I felt like I was burned at the stake. I felt like I was stoned and hanged all at the same time,” she recalled of the meeting with the team, adding that it felt like another way for others to take shots at her coaching style along with her opinion on the main issue at hand.”
“I will have a conversation with anyone who wants to have a conversation about this,” Russell says in the documentary. “I am passionate about this. I really believe that women should be competing against other biological females.”
This is really really huge. The voice we’ve been missing is that of coaches. Watch this to understand why so many remain silent even though they know what they’re being told to do is wrong.
Thank you for putting your name to this, Coach Kim Russell. https://t.co/F91Qlgw9A4
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) August 29, 2023
“But, to this date very few college coaches have been brave enough to speak out. It’s our hope that by sharing Russell’s story, more coaches, educators, and other school faculty who support women and girls, the integrity of women’s sports, and female athletes’ equal athletic opportunity will know that they’re not alone.”
Source: Fox, CNN, Washington Post,