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The president of a pride party organizing group in Canada resigned amid huge backlash for comments about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
The Windsor-Essex Pride Fest in Ontario, Canada, announced on social media this week that president Wendi Nicholson has resigned after she commented on recent reports that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will ban biological males from women’s competitions.
“Effective immediately, Wendi Nicholson has resigned as Board Chair and is no longer affiliated with Windsor-Essex Pride Fest,” the statement read.
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A parade participant waves the Progress Pride flag at the Midsumma Pride March held in St Kilda, Victoria, Australia on February 2, 2025. (Joshua Stanyer/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“We’ve been closely following the comments people have made about this situation, and while this announcement is an important first step, we agree there’s much more we can do… We realize people are angry, and we understand why. We ask that you bear with us as we work towards improving ourselves and upholding our values of equality, inclusion and respect.”
Nicholson’s comments came during a radio interview on AM800.
“We’ve been fighting for women in sports. Now we get people coming in and going, ‘Well, I can’t make it in this sport, so I’m going to transition and be this,'” Nicholson said.
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“You’ve passed as Johnny until you’re 17 or 18, you’re playing in elite sports now, you’re hitting puberty, you’re not as good as you thought, but then you look and go, ‘hey, if I say my name is Sally and I’m transgender, I can go and I can hit the slopes.’
Nicholson added that she has no problem with transgender women participating in sports “until you get to the elite divisions” and that as a “woman who has been trailblazing for years” she felt the issue “hit a sore spot.”
Pakinomist Digital has attempted to reach Nicholson on social media for comment on her recent resignation.
The IOC’s current policy leaves it up to each sport’s governing body to create policies for transgender athletes. But when the IOC changed leadership, The Times of London reported on Monday that its policies will also change.
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The upcoming policy change is likely to be announced at IOC session in February before the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina in Italy and comes after a presentation by Dr. Jane Thornton, the IOC’s medical and scientific director, last week according to The Times.
Thornton’s presentation allegedly showed that there were physical benefits in men, including those taking treatments to reduce testosterone levels. A source told the paper that the presentation was “very scientific” and unemotional.
“An update was provided by the IOC Director of Health, Medicine and Science to IOC members last week during IOC Commission meetings,” an IOC spokesperson told Pakinomist Digital. “The working group is continuing its discussions on this topic and no decisions have yet been made. Further information will be provided in due course.”
