( Note: "The Wendy Williams Show" has removed the video referenced below from its website )
Wendy Williams sat down with a panel of media personalities on her popular daytime talk show "The Wendy Williams Show" this week to discuss a transgender athlete's lawsuit against CrossFit for alleged discriminatory practices.
Chloie Jonsson, a personal trainer and CrossFit athlete living in Los Gatos, Calif., recently filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against CrossFit for violating her civil rights. CrossFit allegedly denied Jonsson the opportunity to participate in the women's division at the upcoming CrossFit Games, despite the fact that she is legally recognized as a woman in the state of California and had gender confirmation surgery in 2006.
CrossFit reportedly stated that Jonsson was denied the chance to compete in the Games' women's division because she was "born as a male."
Williams told viewers that she agrees that Jonsson should not be permitted to compete in the women's division at the CrossFit Games, due to the fact that "this is an unfair advantage... you can take away female parts or male parts or whatever -- it's like Chaz Bono! You know Chaz is a man now, but I bet she [sic] still fights like a girl like the rest of us and she's [sic] not as strong as a man who was born a man."
Many in the audience appear to enthusiastically back up Williams' claims that Jonsson should not be allowed to compete.
While Judge Lynn Toler of "Divorce Court" tries to provide a legal perspective that validates why Jonsson should be able to compete as a woman, Joe Pardavila of "The Todd Show" has a different perspective.
"Think about it," Pardavila states. "You look inside -- she's got all guy muscles, and the juices! You know, I'm not a doctor or anything but inside her that's all there."
Transgender model Carmen Carrera recently spoke out about CrossFit's allegedly discriminatory practices, reportedly telling the fitness empire to "Put [Chloie] under the test and I bet her [testosterone] levels are the same as the rest of the competitors. Run some tests to make it fair."
Williams isn't the first television personality to come under fire for their treatment of issues surrounding transgender identity. Last month, transgender writer Janet Mock sat down for an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, later taking to Twitter to take the news anchor to task for "sensationalizing" her life through the interview's packaging. Additionally, Katie Couric landed herself in hot water for questioning Carmen Carrera about her "private parts" in early January.
UPDATE: Joe Pardavila tweeted an apology for his comments.
Before You Go
