ESPN panelist says 'trans kids deserve to play sports' in final appearance before show's cancellation
"Around the Horn" leaves the airwaves later this month, which means some of the show's panelists are making their final appearances in the coming weeks.
That includes Kate Fagan, who appeared for the last time on the show Thursday. Fagan, a longtime writer and reporter, also played college basketball at Colorado.
Fagan has made appearances on the show since she was first hired by ESPN in 2012. She left the network in 2018 but has continued to appear on the program.
Fagan was determined to be the "winner" of Thursday's show against Jemele Hill, who made a return to the show since leaving the network in 2018. The winner of the episode typically delivers a short monologue, and Fagan said "being on this show has been a privilege and a platform."
With Thursday marking her final episode, she used that platform to make a plea for transgender athletes.
"I know it's my last time on it, and I want to say something worthy of that platform, and that's trans kids deserve to play sports," she said. "Think about what you remember from your time playing sports. Ninety-nine 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 the same as everyone else does.
"Sports is joy. Sports is humanity. And the more people who have that, the better."
There is no law or order that bans transgender children from participating in sports. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February that prohibits biological males identifying as girls or women from competing against biological females.
ESPN announced the show's cancellation in March, and shortly after, former panelist Jay Mariotti, who was a regular on the show until a domestic violence arrest in 2010, said in an interview the show is being canceled because it went "woke."
"I think what John Skipper wanted from some of the shows was he started to install people on the shows who became anti-Trump," Mariotti told Front Office Sports.
In a recent post on his own Substack, "Around the Horn ended a long time ago ¸— when I left the show," Mariotti reiterated that some of the panelists went "woke" while others were "on dope."
There are now just 11 episodes left of the show, which is over 20 years old.
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