Matt Calkins resigns from The Seattle Times after column rejection
Matt Calkins resigned from The Seattle Times on Aug. 20, 2026, after saying the paper declined to publish a column about two female student-athletes who opposed transgender girls competing in women’s sports. The resignation was his decision, according to his announcement, and the unpublished column was later posted on his Substack, according to multiple reports. Awful Announcing
Matt Calkins resigns from The Seattle Times after column rejection
Calkins had been a sports columnist at The Seattle Times for 11 years. He said the immediate reason for leaving was the newspaper’s decision not to run a piece written from the perspective of two female student-athletes who opposed competing against biological males. He described it as one of several columns the paper had declined to publish and said he no longer felt able to do his work properly. Lynnwood Times
The column grew out of a rally outside Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena supporting Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. Cunningham had publicly argued that young girls should not have to compete against biological males in women’s sports. Calkins interviewed people at the rally, including two student-athletes, and said the column’s central argument was that supporting sex-separated athletic competition does not automatically mean someone is transphobic. The Big Lead
One of the students identified in the reports was 16-year-old Ahnaleigh Wilson. Calkins also interviewed Frances Staudt. The Lynnwood Times reported that both said they were not anti-trans, while describing their opposition to competing against transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports. The reports do not independently establish the students’ broader athletic histories or verify all allegations connected to the rally.
How the column moved through the newsroom
Calkins said he submitted a draft to his editor on Friday, July 31, after discussing the idea with that editor. He said the draft was then reviewed by multiple editors over several days. According to his account, he was later told the column would not run because he had not informed the editor in advance that he was working on it. New York Post
He rejected that explanation, saying the draft would have been stopped immediately if advance notice had been the real issue. Fox News Digital reported that Calkins characterized the review as lasting roughly six days before he learned the piece would not be published. Fox News
The available reporting does not establish whether the newspaper rejected the column solely for lack of advance notice, or whether editors had additional concerns about its subject, framing or reporting. A Seattle Times representative declined comment to the New York Post.
Calkins says the decision followed earlier disputes
Calkins said the rejected column was part of a longer pattern. He cited earlier work that he said was declined, including a column questioning whether members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team were victims of discrimination in their equal-pay lawsuit, a piece about cancel culture in sports, and a column written after George Floyd’s death that urged readers to listen to basketball coach Mike Bethea’s argument against stereotyping police officers. The Big Lead
He argued that those pieces, like the Cunningham-related column, challenged what he viewed as prevailing newsroom narratives. In interviews, he said the editorial decisions had narrowed the range of opinions he could explore and left him unable to perform the role he had been hired to do. He also said he respected his former editors and did not hold personal animosity toward them. Fox News
As of Aug. 20, the confirmed change is Calkins’ departure from The Seattle Times. The newspaper had not published the disputed column, while reports said Calkins had made it available independently on Substack. His next job had not been established in the available reporting, although Lynnwood Times reported that Sport & State publicly indicated it might have a position for him.