A women-focused sports media company with one million newsletter subscribers has an explicit position on transgender athletes: based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex.
The company is The GIST, co-founded by Ellen Hyslop, and it doesn‘t hide where it stands.
“At The GIST, we believe trans women are women and that trans athletes have the right to compete on teams consistent with their gender identity,” the outlet wrote Tuesday.
WNBPA ISSUES STATEMENT EMBRACING DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION AMID TRANS ATHLETE DEBATE IN WOMEN’S SPORTS
Also on Tuesday, Hyslop and co-host Steph Rotz devoted an episode of their podcast to the WNBA’s ongoing debate over transgender athletes. The hosts made clear they think the political and cultural controversies surrounding the league are worthy of media attention, even as some fans would prefer everyone just talk about basketball.
Rotz argued that women’s sports provide an opportunity to have “critical conversations,” and Hyslop repeatedly agreed that what’s happening off the court deserves attention, too.
So, when a public relations representative reached out to me Tuesday afternoon and offered an interview with Hyslop, I was interested. If we’re going to have these “important” conversations, let’s have one.
Apparently, there’s a catch.
If you’ve never heard of The GIST, that’s fair. But don’t mistake that for irrelevance.
According to its website, The GIST has one million newsletter subscribers, 582,000 social media followers and more than 40 million monthly social reach. Its twice-weekly podcast gets 300,000 annual downloads, and the company says it employs about 40 people.
It has also attracted plenty of attention from the media industry. Forbes profiled The GIST when it reached one million email subscribers and has written glowing articles about Hyslop and the company’s growth several times.
The Associated Press included The GIST in a February feature about the expanding women’s sports media ecosystem, noting that its newsletter audience had grown nearly 50% in 2 years. Axios also cited The GIST as one of the women’s-sports-specific media companies benefiting from increased interest in female athletics.
In other words, this isn’t a random Substack with a few hundred readers. The GIST has built a substantial audience, particularly among young female sports fans, and it wants to help shape the conversation around women’s sports.
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Its own website says the company goes “beyond the highlights” and views sports through a wider lens that accounts for their cultural impact.
Keep that in mind.
A PR agent contacted me after of Chicago Sky wing DiJonai Carrington’s flagrant foul on Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham.
The agent said she wanted to offer “a similar angle from a diff POV.” Her pitch acknowledged that much of the WNBA
