For his Sunday show, HBO’s John Oliver decided to take a deep dive into the world of transgender sports. The Last Week Tonight host tried to concede that the issue is maybe more complicated than bathroom preference, but what he ultimately ended up doing was missing the point as he argued that even in famous examples of transgender athletes winning competitions, the stories are more complicated.
In one example, Oliver recalled, “You may have seen this photo of two trans high-school runners in Connecticut coming first and second at a state track meet. They were the subject of a lawsuit claiming, among other things, their participation wasn't just unfair, it threatened to deprive their competitors of scholarships. But you should know, one of the plaintiffs actually beat one of those girls twice, just two days after the suit was filed. Also, most of the plaintiffs ended up getting scholarships, while these two did not.”
Another example Oliver cited earlier was a San Jose State University volleyball player. He directed viewers towards an ESPN article claiming the player in question had an average spike velocity of 50 miles per hour—about average for women’s volleyball—not 80 as originally claimed. But if ESPN is good enough for that, it is also good enough to add context to the Connecticut example:
The lawsuit centers on [Terry] Miller and another transgender sprinter, Andraya Yearwood, of Cromwell High School, who have frequently outperformed their cisgender competitors. The two seniors have combined to win 15 girls state indoor or outdoor championships since 2017, according to the lawsuit [emphasis added].
As it was, Oliver continued to another famous example:
But the most famous example is probably Lia Thomas. As you probably know, she's a swimmer who initially competed on the University of Pennsylvania men's team—including one year while undergoing hormone therapy as a part of her medical transition, as per the NCAA's rules at the time. She made national headlines after she won the NCAA championship in the women's 500 freestyle. She got a good time in that race—her best of the season—although it was also a full nine seconds behind the record set by Katie Ledecky. It's also the only race she won at that meet. She came in 8th in the 100 freestyle. And, in what's weirdly her most consequential race, she tied for fifth in the 200 free with Riley Gaines, who catapulted to conservative stardom off the back of that race.
Thomas’s performance vis-à-vis Ledecky isn’t the standard. Ledecky is the best female swimmer ever, who has won 14 Olympic medals. Thomas was a college student competing against other college students. The question is how Thomas’s ranking changed after moving from the men’s college competition to the women’s.
Later, Oliver tried to understand what motivates people to oppose men in women’s sports, “And at this point, it's worth asking what's really behind all this vitriol? Because, again, I do believe that some speaking against trans participation are just talking about women's sports—and the truth is, at the elite levels of competition, this isn't a cut and dry issue, but in many other cases, the opposition comes from a much more toxic place. It's not just about denying trans women the right to play, it's about denying them the right to exist. Mike Johnson basically said as much after the House passed its ban on trans athletes, when he said this.”
In a clip, Johnson declared, “We know from scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women, and men cannot become women.”
Not appreciating the difference between characters in Biblical stories and Biblical beliefs, Oliver mocked the Speaker, “That's right, Mike. As scripture tells us: Men are men and women are women, and God is his own Son, and some mothers are virgins, and some mothers-in-law are pillars of salt, and some daughters are sex partners, and colorful coats are dream tellers, and brothers are murderers, but also brothers are backup husbands for wives, and babies can be for splitting in half, and water is wine, and also with you—sorry. And with your spirit.”
Sure, one mother was a virgin; that’s why it’s called a miracle. But Johnson is still correct, and the countless other stories that Oliver ignored back him up.
Here is a transcript for the April 6 show:
HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
4/6/2025
11:32 PM ET
JOHN OLIVER: You may have seen this photo of two trans high-school runners in Connecticut coming first and second at a state track meet. They were the subject of a lawsuit claiming, among other things, their participation wasn't just unfair, it threatened to deprive their competitors of scholarships. But you should know, one of the plaintiffs actually beat one of those girls twice, just two days after the suit was filed. Also, most of the plaintiffs ended up getting scholarships, while these two did not.
But the most famous example is probably Lia Thomas. As you probably know, she's a swimmer who initially competed on the University of Pennsylvania men's team — including one year while undergoing hormone therapy as a part of her medical transition, as per the NCAA's rules at the time. She made national headlines after she won the NCAA championship in the women's 500 freestyle. She got a good time in that race — her best of the season — although it was also a full nine seconds behind the record set by Katie Ledecky. It's also the only race she won at that meet. She came in 8th in the 100 freestyle. And, in what's weirdly her most consequential race, she tied for fifth in the 200 free with Riley Gaines, who catapulted to conservative stardom off the back of that race.
…
And at this point, it's worth asking what's really behind all this vitriol? Because, again, I do believe that some speaking against trans participation are just talking about women's sports — and the truth is, at the elite levels of competition, this isn't a cut and dry issue, but in many other cases, the opposition comes from a much more toxic place. It's not just about denying trans women the right to play, it's about denying them the right to exist. Mike Johnson basically said as much after the House passed its ban on trans athletes, when he said this.
MIKE JOHNSON: We know from scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women, and men cannot become women.
OLIVER: That's right, Mike. As scripture tells us: Men are men and women are women, and God is his own Son, and some mothers are virgins, and some mothers-in-law are pillars of salt, and some daughters are sex partners, and colorful coats are dream tellers, and brothers are murderers, but also brothers are backup husbands for wives, and babies can be for splitting in half, and water is wine, and also with you—sorry. And with your spirit.
