Charles Barkley Calls Out ‘Stupid’ Transgender Rights Advocates In Sports

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by Katherine ManzMay 28, 2025, 11:37 pm >

NBA icon Charles Barkley made his thoughts on transgender women athletes clear.

“Men should not play sports against women, Barkley said on Outkick’s Don’t @ Me. “If anybody thinks that, I think they’re stupid. I support the gay community 100%. I support the transgender community 100%. But I do not, under any circumstances… think that men should play sports against women.”

Barkley’s stance is controversial, and it’s not just because it’s a hot-button topic. Barkley has been vocally supportive of the LGBTQ community for years, advocating for gay marriage rights as far back as 2008 and even buying cases of Bud Light in 2023, when the brand faced backlash for hiring trans advocate Dylan Mulvaney.

“Hey, I ain’t worried about getting canceled because lemme tell you something,” Barkley said at a golf tournament that year. “As I said last night, if you’re gay, God bless you. If you’re trans, God bless you. And if you have a problem with them f— you.”

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Barkley’s comments also come as a surprise because of the political landscape they’re in. President Donald Trump passed an executive order entitled “Keeping Men Out Of Women’s Sports” in February, following an executive order that decreed that gender was the same as biological sex. Trans advocates feel that Trump’s moves threaten transgender people’s ability to change their driver’s license sex markers, acquire hormone therapy, and ultimately their ability to exist peacefully in public.

If Barkley is to be taken at his word, he continues to support other rights of the trans community – but his calling transgender women “men” doesn’t seem to align with the positions he’s previously expressed.

“I don’t even think that’s controversial… I don’t wanna hear you try to explain it to me. No, no, no, I don’t wanna hear it. I’m not gonna argue with you. Men shouldn’t play sports against women. I’m done,” he said.