ESPN analyst Kate backs trans athletes during cameo with Donald Trump-hating co-host Jemele Hill
By DANIEL MATTHEWS
Kate Fagan used her final remarks on iconic ESPN show 'Around the Horn' to push for the inclusion of transgender kids in sports.
'Around the Horn' has been part of the ESPN schedule for two decades but the sports debate show will go off air on May 23.
Former ESPN star Fagan was invited back for a farewell appearance, alongside Jemele Hill. Hill was suspended by ESPN before leaving the network in 2018. She has previously caused controversy after branding Donald Trump a 'white supremacist' and claiming white men are the 'worst thing in America'.
But Hill was back on ESPN on Thursday and, at the end of the episode, Fagan made an impassioned plea in support of transgender athletes.
Their rights have been a divisive issue for several years with athletes such as Lia Thomas and Blaire Fleming finding themselves at the heart of the fierce debate.
Since returning to office, Donald Trump has pushed for a ban and even signed an executive order entitled: 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports'.
Kate Fagan used her return to ESPN to push for the inclusion of transgender kids in sports
Fagan returned alongside Jemele Hill, who once branded Donald Trump a 'white supremacist'
Donald Trump signed an executive order entitled: 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports'
His administration is suing Maine for not complying with the government’s push to ban transgender athletes in girls and women’s sports. But Fagan spoke out against their marginalization.
'Being on this show has been a privilege and a platform and I know it's my last time on it and I want to say something worthy of that privilege and platform,' she began.
'That is this: trans kids deserve to play sports. Think about what you remember from your time playing sports and 99 percent of it is: finding that jersey for the first time, your favorite number, community, joy, those high-fives.
'It's that moment when you have a great play with a teammate, it's the feeling of belonging and it does not know gender. Trans kids deserve that - the same as everybody else does.'
She added: 'This space - on "Around the Horn" - has been about diversity and inclusion, lifting up new voices because sports is joy and sports is humanity. And the more people who have that the better.'
Fagan worked for ESPN for several years and regularly appeared on 'Around the Horn' and 'First Take'. She left ESPN in 2018.
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