Nike accused of funding long-term study on transgender minors

By lauraharris // 2025-05-04

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Nike is accused of funding a long-term study on transgender adolescents, tracking their physical performance before and after medical transition. Despite evidence, the company has not publicly confirmed its involvement.
The research is led by Dr. Kathryn Ackerman (Boston Children's Hospital/Harvard) and Joanna Harper (a trans researcher who advised the IOC). It focuses on puberty blockers, hormone therapy and potential "retained male advantage" in sports.
Harper revealed that while Nike funds the study, restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors (e.g., under Trump-era policies) hindered participant recruitment, as the study relies on access to transitioning youth.
Nike promotes LGBTQ+ inclusion through initiatives like "No Pride, No Sport" and partnerships with activist groups (e.g., The GenderCool Project). However, it has not disclosed its role in the controversial study.
Jennifer Sey (XX-XY Athletics) condemned Nike for allegedly incentivizing experimental medical treatments that may harm youth, calling the study "degrading" to female athletes and questioning Nike's corporate motives.

Nike has been allegedly funding a long-term study on transgender adolescents that tracks their physical performance before and after medical transition, but the company remained silent despite multiple attempts of confirmation. An April 2025 New York Times profile on former San Jose State University volleyball player Blaire Fleming, a biological male who identifies as a woman and competed on the women's team, has mentioned the study funded by Nike. The article, written by Jason Zengerle, has revealed that the study is led by Kathryn Ackerman of Boston Children's Hospital and an Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, along with Joanna Harper and several other researchers. Harper is a transgender researcher who advised the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on its 2015 policy to allow men with testosterone suppression to compete in women's events. According to the article, Harper told Fleming that political challenges, such as restrictions on "gender-affirming care" for minors, pose obstacles to the study. "She told me when we talked in February, 'the current climate makes the study somewhat uncertain.' I assumed she was referring to the Trump administration's cuts to National Institutes of Health research grants, but she said money was not a problem: The study is being funded by Nike. The problem was Trump's separate order targeting medical care for transgender youth. 'If we can't perform gender-affirming care,' she explained, 'then we can't bring people into the study,'" Fleming said. Meanwhile, Ackerman has publicly acknowledged the financial support of Nike during a seminar in 2023. "Recently, we got some money from Nike, who wanted to study this more… they wanted to look at transgender folks who are going through the transition younger. So, if we are talking about athletes who are pausing puberty and then doing gender-affirming care and cross-hormonal treatment, what happens to them over time," Ackerman said at that time. Moreover, Dan Zaksheske disclosed in his article for Outkick that Nike's website features a section titled "No Pride, No Sport," promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusion in athletics. The company partners with activist groups like The GenderCool Project (which promotes transgender youth in sports) and Not a Phase (a trans-led advocacy organization). But despite all this evidence, nowhere does Nike disclose its alleged financial backing of a study that could justify the participation of medically transitioned males in female sports.

XX-XY Athletics founder slams Nike

Jennifer Sey, founder of the women's sports fairness group XX-XY Athletics, condemned the study and the involvement of Nike. In an interview with Dan Dakich of Outkick, Sey called it "degrading" to female athletes. She then accused Nike of incentivizing experimental medical treatments that may permanently sterilize and disfigure young people, suggesting the company may now be scrambling to distance itself from the controversy. "She's trying to understand what they call 'retained male advantage' and is there little enough of it that these boys can pass for competing with girls," Sey said. "It's so wrong on so many levels... Why is a shoe brand involved in this at all?" (Related: Mayo Clinic study reveals disturbing impact of puberty blockers on testicular development.) Head over to GenderConfused.com for more stories about gender-related medical interventions. Watch a detransitioned molecular biologist warn against puberty blockers in this news interview.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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XX-XY Athletics founder slams Nike

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