A new ad released by XX-XY Athletics is getting a lot of buzz on social media. The company was founded by Jennifer Sey and has been open about its opposition to allowing transgender women, biological men, compete in women’s sports. The new ad opens with a question: “Over 1900 females have been displaced by males in women’s sports. Yet Nike remains silent. So, we asked female athletes if they could say one thing to @Nike, what would it be?” Then the ad features responses from female athletes like Payton McNabb, who suffered brain damage after a trans player spiked a volleyball into her head, and Riley Gaines, who has been one of the biggest voices against men in female sports after her swim team allowed Lia Thomas, a biological man, to join the team.

In her video response, Gaines sent Nike a challenge. “If I had a chance to talk to Nike, I would tell them to just do it. That’s your slogan, isn’t it, Nike? Just do it,” she said. “When I say it, I mean the right thing. And that’s defending women and biological reality.” McNabb shared that her injury kept her from being able to play volleyball in college. “You’re saying that you’re supporting women, but you’re not actually doing anything. You are using us when it’s convenient, but in private, you’re not doing anything about it,” she said. “Women’s sports aren’t just a marketing tool,” said another female athlete.

Nike has stood by the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports, despite the growing public outcry against it. In 2023, the company stated, “We’re continuing our commitment to helping shape a strong culture of LGBTQIA+ belonging and visibility in sport. We’re working to expand sport for the next generation through community grants, athlete partnerships, impactful storytelling, and products that celebrate the full spectrum of LGBTQIA+ expression. Because sport is better when all athletes are free to play as themselves.” The brand, however, continues to see its revenue fall, dropping 9 percent in its third quarter.

More recently, Outkick reported there was evidence that the company had funded a study in favor of transgender youths in sports. According to Outkick Boston Children’s Hospital attending physician and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical school Kathryn Ackerman noted the company’s support during a 2023 seminar. “Recently, we got some money from Nike, who wanted to study this more… they wanted to look at transgender folks who are going through the transition younger. So, if we are talking about athletes who are pausing puberty and then doing gender-affirming care and cross-hormonal treatment, what happens to them over time,” she said at the time. An unnamed Nike executive apparently told Outkick the study was “never initialized.” Sey, however, criticized the study. “Why on earth would a company that makes running shoes fund — or at the very least incentivize —medical experiments on children?” she asked. “When it comes to girls’ athletic abilities, they are not impaired boys. It’s a demeaning and degrading starting point to assert that if we just hamper boys enough it might be ok for them to compete against girls.”