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Transgender comedian Stacy Cay sparked backlash on social media Friday after making a joke about former high school volleyball player Payton McNabb’s brain injury.
Cay’s joke made light of the fact that McNabb suffered a concussion, brain hemorrhage and permanent whiplash after being poked in the head by a biologically male trans athlete during a high school game in North Carolina in 2022. Cay called footage of the incident “pretty funny.”
“They never want to show the clip of what happened because it’s actually pretty funny,” Cay said.
“She gets hit right in the head and falls over like a little kid. And I’m like, ‘Oh, she really used to be like that.’
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Payton McNabb, left, claps as second lady Usha Vance looks on during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
McNabb issued a statement to Pakinomist Digital in response to Cay’s comments.
“A grown man mocking a teenage girl’s traumatic brain injury isn’t comedy — it’s cruelty. My story isn’t a punchline. It’s a warning about what happens when adults ignore reality and girls pay the price. I’m suffering from something that changed my life forever. Your jokes won’t silence me; they only say why this fight matters,” McNabb.
Cay’s joke drew backlash from other Save Women’s Sports activists, including Riley Gaines and XX-XY Athletics co-founder Jennifer Sey.
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McNabb’s story has become one of the flashpoints of the cultural movement to protect women’s sports from trans athletes and has been cited by officials including President Donald Trump and US Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
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McNabb testified before Congress at Ministry of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee’s “Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” hearing in May.
