participation

California gubernational candidate Betty Yee said that transgender female athletes should be able to compete in women’s sports and that she is open to having athletes of all gender identities compete in the same category in certain events at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Her comments come as California legislation becomes a central focus in the national debate on the participation of transgender athletes in sports and elucidate her stance on one of the few issues currently dividing the state’s Democrats.

During a recent appearance on “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” Yee said, “I think transgender athletes are women athletes and they should be able to compete.”

Yee, who served as California state controller from 2015 to 2023, told Morgan that transgender female athletes have gone through a physical transition and should be able to participate in women’s sports. However, she added that “there is still some discussion about whether they should compete in the same field” and that more research is needed on the physiology of transgender athletes.

Her view differs from that of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who called transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports “deeply unfair” and warned that it was hurting Democrats at the polls during a March episode of his podcast featuring conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Newsom’s comments garnered backlash from some party members, who accused the governor of abandoning a vulnerable minority group for political gain.

When Morgan asked Yee if there should be a gender-neutral 2028 L.A. Olympics where everyone competes in the same category, she said, “I think it’s a conversation worth having.”

“If the physicality of the sexes bear true to that [gender neutrality], including with transgender people, yes, it [the Olympics] should be gender neutral,” she said. “I don’t think we know enough.”

Yee suggested that there are some sporting events where all athletes can compete on a level playing field. When asked to name one, she suggested short-distance track and field events such as the 100-meter sprint — a notion Morgan decried as “insane.”

The Olympic record time among male athletes for the 100-meter dash is 9.63 seconds, set by Usain Bolt in 2012, while the women’s Olympic record is 10.61 seconds, set by Elaine Thompson-Herah in 2021.

Yee said she was not a sports expert but emphasized her overall stance that all athletes, including transgender athletes, should have an equal opportunity to participate.

“I think there’s a lot of information we need to learn about what’s really happening with the ability of trans athletes to compete, but my statement is about being able to be sure that they can compete,” she said.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton appeared on Morgan’s show after Yee and called her comments jaw dropping.

“I think we may just have seen another California Democrat candidate torpedo their campaign for governor,” he said, referencing the criticism former Rep. Katie Porter has received over recordings of combative and rude comments to a journalist and a staff member.

Hilton said that as governor he would overturn AB 1266. This law took effect in 2014 and requires that California schools allow students to participate in sporting activities consistent with their gender identities, regardless of the gender listed on their record.

“This is obviously discrimination against girls,” said Hilton. “I’m confident that, as governor, I can actually overturn that law and bring some sanity back to this whole situation.”

In July, the Trump administration sued California for allowing transgender athletes to compete on school sports teams that match their gender identity, alleging that this violates a federal law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in schools by allowing biological males to compete against biological females.

This week, Newsom signed Assembly Bill 749, which creates a commission to examine whether a new state board or department is needed to improve access to youth sports regardless of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, income or geographic location.

The bill was decried by some Republican legislators as an attempt to create a body that will advocate for the participation of transgender athletes in women’s sports.

Several countries have demanded Israel be excluded due to its actions in Gaza, threatening to drop out of the competition.

Eurovision Song Contest members will vote on Israel’s participation in the 2026 competition in November.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the event, confirmed the plan on Friday. International demands for Israel to be excluded from the contest due to the country’s actions in Gaza have been growing.

The board of the EBU, an umbrella organisation for public broadcasters that runs the event, has sent a letter to members indicating that the vote will take place at an extraordinary general meeting held online in early November, a spokesperson said.

The vote will be on whether Kan, the Israeli public broadcaster and member of the EBU, will participate, the spokesperson said. An “absolute majority” would be required for an exclusion to pass, he said.

Countries including Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain have demanded that the EBU exclude Israel, citing as a precedent its decision to remove Russia from the show following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

During the past two editions of the competition, the event has been drawn into the controversy over Israel’s devastating war in Gaza, which has now killed more than 65,000 people.

Pro-Palestinian activists protested in Malmo, Sweden, in 2024 and in Basel, Switzerland in May over Israel’s participation in the contest.

In September, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry concluded that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.

Last week, Spain threatened to boycott the competition – the world’s largest live televised music event that takes place in May – if Israel takes part. Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.

Germany and Austria have backed Israel’s participation.

Other countries, such as Belgium, Sweden, and Finland, are also considering a boycott and have until December to decide.

Aside from Russia, the EBU previously booted former Yugoslavia from the competition due to UN sanctions over the Balkan wars in the 1990s, and Belarus in 2021 over its crackdown on media freedoms.

Kan, the Israeli broadcaster, wrote on Thursday on social media that it hoped the contest “will continue to uphold its cultural and non-political identity”.

Spain’s Vuelta cycling event has added extra security following pro-Palestine protests against Israel-Premier Tech.

Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria has said Israeli teams should be banned from sport in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country invaded Ukraine, highlighting a “double standard”.

The presence of a team named Israel-Premier Tech at the Vuelta a Espana cycling grand tour has led to huge protests in Spain. The Spanish government has described Israel’s offensive in Gaza as “a genocide”.

Israel-Premier Tech is a private outfit owned by billionaire Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams, not a state team, but has been hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to quit the Vuelta despite vehement protests.

“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria told Spanish radio station Cadena SER.

“Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022,” she added.

“No team, no club from Russia participated in an international competition, and when the individuals participated, they did it under a neutral flag and without a national anthem.”

Alegria said she would like Vuelta organisers to block Israel-Premier Tech from competing, but accepted that such a decision could only be taken by the cycling world governing body, UCI.

Various stages of the Vuelta have been affected by protests, with stages 11 and 16 shortened during racing, while Thursday’s stage 18 time trial has also been cut short in advance for security reasons.

Alegria said she hopes the race can be completed, with Sunday’s final stage heading into Madrid expected to be targeted by various protests.

“It would not be good news if the race cannot finish,” said Alegria.

“However, what we’re seeing these days with the protests is, in my opinion, logical,” she added.

“[The protests] are a clear representation of what the people feel, sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.”

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s left-wing coalition government has taken one of Europe’s strongest pro-Palestinian stances, straining ties with Israel.

Israel launched its Gaza offensive in October 2023 in retaliation for an unprecedented cross-border attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,139 people, most of whom were civilians.

Israel’s bombardment has killed at least 64,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from the Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza.

“[Israeli forces] have killed more than 60,000 people; children, babies [are] starving to death, hospitals destroyed,” added Alegria.

“So it is important that sport, given this situation, takes a position at least similar to what it did against Russia.”

On August 31, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Tianjin, China, to attend the 25^th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Türkiye has begun to regularly attend SCO summits in recent years. President Erdoğan attended the Samarkand summit in 2022 for the first time as president. He then continued the tradition by attending the Astana summit in 2022 and the Tianjin summit this year. With Erdoğan’s participation in the SCO summit, the Turkish media’s coverage of the summit also increased. Especially when browsing news channels, I see that with Erdoğan’s arrival in Tianjin, various news stories and commentators are evaluating the importance of the SCO and the summit. However, as always, Turkish TV channels and news outlets continue to compare the SCO with the EU and NATO while covering SCO news. Comparing the SCO and the EU is like comparing apples and oranges; they are functionally different structures, yet this comparison comes up every year. On the other hand, while some TV commentators point out that there is no complete unity within the SCO and BRICS and that there are internal contradictions, they generally do not mention the rift within NATO. However, even their statement that Türkiye’s participation in the SCO summit is not a sign that it will break away from the West clearly shows how much of a dissenting voice Türkiye is within NATO. Furthermore, there is no mention of the rift between Trump and the EU within NATO following Donald Trump’s election as US President.

Erdoğan attended the SCO summit with a large delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, National Intelligence Chief İbrahim Kalın, National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek, Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, Industry and Technology Minister Mehmet Fatih Kacır, and Trade Minister Ömer Bolat, and held comprehensive bilateral talks at the summit. Throughout the summit, Erdoğan met with the heads of state of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and China for bilateral talks. In general, Türkiye has deep cooperation with SCO countries in the fields of energy, trade, tourism, and investment. In particular, Türkiye has a large trade volume with Russia and China. For instance, during his bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Erdoğan emphasized Türkiye’s cooperation with Russia in the fields of trade and energy and invited Putin to Türkiye, demonstrating the strength of bilateral relations. At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin also emphasized bilateral cooperation and thanked Erdoğan for his mediation and efforts towards peace regarding the Russia-Ukraine War. It should not be forgotten that Türkiye has not strained its relations with Russia since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, taking a different stance from NATO.

In his article titled “A Shared Path to Peace and Justice” published in the People’s Daily prior to his trip to China, Erdoğan emphasized that Türkiye was pursuing peace diplomacy on the Russia-Ukraine and Gaza issues and that China was playing a leading role in establishing a just world. The emphasis on a just world in Erdoğan’s article is always part of the multipolar world discourse. For many years, Erdoğan has used the expectation of a multipolar world order and the emphasis on “a just world” as his own unique discourse, saying that “the world is bigger than five.” While highlighting the same issues in both his speech at the SCO summit and his meeting with Xi Jinping, Erdoğan did not fail to emphasize Türkiye’s geostrategic position as an energy and transportation hub in the Middle Corridor.

Deepening Turkish-Chinese Relations in Recent Years

Erdoğan’s trip to China for the SCO Summit carries significance within the context of deepening Turkish-Chinese relations in recent years. With this visit, Erdoğan visited China for the first time in six years. Erdoğan last made an official visit to Beijing in 2019. The two heads of state last met in July 2024 at the SCO summit in Astana. Since Chinese President Xi Jinping last visited Türkiye in 2015 for the G20 Summit in Antalya, Türkiye has been hoping for Xi Jinping to make an official visit to Türkiye for many years. In fact, President Erdoğan indicated after the BRICS summit in Kazan that Xi Jinping would pay an official visit this year. Xi’s official visit to Türkiye may have positive repercussions for the bilateral relations that have developed in recent years.

There has also been a significant increase in visits to China by state officials and AKP strategists in recent years. Most recently, in June 2024, bilateral relations progressed positively with the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. After a long hiatus, Fidan became the first high-level official to visit Urumqi and Kashgar in Xinjiang. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and conveyed the messages that “Türkiye fully supports China’s territorial integrity” and “Urumqi and Kashgar are Turkish Islamic cities. They are a bridge between China and the Islamic world. The unity of the people is our wealth.” During his visit to China, Fidan also expressed Türkiye’s desire to join BRICS, and President Erdoğan emphasized his wish to attend the BRICS summit in Kazan. In our meetings with various diplomats and businesspeople following Fidan’s visit to China, they emphasized that China had a positive impact on Turkish businesspeople. Direct flights between Urumqi and Istanbul even began after Fidan’s visit to Xinjiang. Then, in June 2024, he visited the capital Beijing with AKP Deputy Chairman Efkan Ala and a delegation, and a “Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Cooperation” was signed between the AKP and the CPC. In November 2024, Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek visited Beijing. In February 2025, a delegation led by Deputy Minister of Trade Mahmut Gürcan visited Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, and a Turkish Pavilion was opened in the Urumqi Free Trade Zone. On the other hand, it should be noted that Türkiye’s former Ambassador to Beijing, İsmail Hakkı Pekin, played a positive role in the development of Turkish-Chinese relations and was well-liked by the Chinese. For instance, Ambassador İsmail Hakkı Musa stated in an interview with Global Times that “Türkiye does not subscribe to anti-China rhetoric and hopes to enhance economic cooperation with China.”

Conclusion

All countries that are members and dialogue partners of the SCO are in favor of establishing a more just and multipolar world. In this regard, they follow a political line consistent with Türkiye’s interests and Erdoğan’s rhetoric of a fair world. Many countries, such as Russia, China, Iran, and India, are subject to Western and US tariffs. In this regard, the establishment of a more just financial system is the most significant demand. Although there are contradictions among the member states of the organization, they find common ground on the establishment of a more just order and financial system despite their differences. In particular, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s message in his speech that we should seek common ground while putting aside differences. In this case, it shows that they have put their differences aside and found common ground in multipolarity. On the other hand, countries such as China and India are both global production centers and energy and mineral-rich countries like Russia, Iran, and Kazakhstan, and Türkiye has deep relations with these countries. However, Türkiye’s predicament between BRICS and the SCO on one side and the EU and NATO on the other should not be left to Türkiye’s special position, historical alliance tradition, and the AKP’s indecisiveness in foreign policy. Türkiye should adopt a strategy of gaining effective positions in the SCO and BRICS institutions by leveraging its deepening relations with Russia and China in recent years and ensuring a solid position in the emerging multipolar world.

The addition of girls flag football is helping fuel rising participation in high school sports nationally, with a record 8,260,891 boys and girls having participated in the last school year, according to the annual survey from the National Federation of State High School Assns. released on Monday.

There were 68,847 girls playing flag football, a 60% increase from the previous year.

Girls sports led the increases, including wrestling rising 15%.

Football remains the most popular boys sports at 1,001,039. Track and field tops girls sports at 513,808.

Girls flag football has been rising in popularity in Southern California. In the Los Angeles City Section, there are now more flag football teams (91) than 11-man football teams (71).

In a letter seen by BBC Sport, Boardman warned: “This behaviour is abhorrent and unacceptable in any context, but it is especially disheartening given the progress we have made in championing women and girls in sport.

“Through Sport England and National Lottery investment, we have committed hundreds of millions of pounds to increase participation, visibility and opportunity for women and girls in sport.”

In October 2023, the Online Safety Act became law, ensuring social media platforms have a duty to protect users from content such as racism, with Ofcom responsible for enforcing the legislation, and developing codes of practice to guide tech companies. However, some anti-racism campaigners believe there needs to be more urgency.

“The Online Safety Act 2023 provides a framework to address illegal and harmful content, including hate speech and misogynistic abuse,” wrote Boardman.

“We are particularly interested in how the new codes can be used to address the kind of targeted abuse we are seeing. We understand that Ofcom has also issued draft guidance on improving online safety for women and girls, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how these measures can be strengthened and enforced.

“For too long, internet trolls have been given free rein by the big tech companies to spread bile and misery, and this cannot be allowed to continue.

“Could you please advise what further steps can be taken within the current regulatory framework to tackle misogyny and racism online?”

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told BBC Sport that social media companies and Ofcom “need to do more”.

“I think the act will continue to be tested every time a problem surfaces and it’s incumbent on those such as Ofcom and social media platforms to be proactive in rooting this out,” she said.

“We brought in the Online Harms Act this year to make sure there are sanctions for companies that don’t take this content down and we are doing a lot of work in schools to educate young people about the impact of online abuse but it’s incumbent on all of us to call this out.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful what [Jess Carter] has had to put up with and we are completely behind her and the Lionesses.”

Ofcom has been approached for comment.