Matt Calkins resigned from the Seattle Times on Thursday after saying the newspaper refused to publish a column tied to the Save Women's Sports movement.
Calkins said the dispute centered on a column he submitted a couple Fridays ago that was written through the eyes of two Washington student-athletes speaking out against biological males competing in girls' and women's sports. According to Calkins, six days passed before the Seattle Times decided the piece would not run.
He said the explanation he received was that he had not told editors in advance that he was doing the project, but he said he did not accept that reason. Calkins also said he had wanted to get the two student-athletes' voices out there.
The column became part of a wider debate that was already active before a July 28 Seattle Storm and Indiana Fever game at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, where Calkins attended a rally supporting Sophie Cunningham. Calkins said the conversation around transgender girls competing in female sports has often left the girls involved feeling stifled.
What Calkins said about the resignation
Calkins said he felt he could not do his job as a columnist if his voice was being stifled. He also said that when he went against the grain, previous columns had been spiked as well. At the same time, he stressed that he has a lot of respect for his editors and said he did not know what he would have done in their situation either.
The resignation ends Calkins' 11-year run with the paper and turns the episode into a larger newsroom story as well as a sports story. At its center is a simple but significant question: how much room a sports columnist has to write about a politically charged issue when the publication decides the piece should not move forward.
