A Tokyo Olympics commentator has provoked outrage on social media after misgendering the first non-binary Olympic athlete.
According to PinkNews, 20-year-old skateboarder Alana Smith competed in women's skateboarding on Sunday, July 25, but was misgendered when several news correspondents used incorrect pronouns when reporting on them.
Take a look at this video on the American women's skateboarding team here:Instead of using "them/they" pronouns, BBC journalists Marc Churchill and Ed Leigh, as well as NBC reporters Todd Harris and Paul Zitzer, used "she/her" pronouns instead.
These gaffes in turn provoked the wrath of a number of social media users, who promptly took to Twitter to express their outrage.
Trans journalist Britni de la Cretaz stated: "This is journalistic malpractice. No one should have to be misgendered on an international stage like this.
"Sports doesn't know what to do with non-binary athletes. Shoutout to Alana Smith, the first openly non-binary athlete to represent the U.S. in an Olympic Games."
Another wrote: "@BBC Sport tell ur commentator to get alana’s pronouns right they use they/them pronouns. hope this helps :) [sic]"
While a third added: "It really is pretty garbage hearing NBC commentators repeatedly misgendering Alana Smith when they literally have they/them on their board."
In an official statement, the LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall wrote: "Alana Smith (they/them), American pro-skater in the #Tokyo2020 Olympics has been repeatedly misgendered by journalists.
"We hope there will be swift corrections. All athletes deserve to be respected & celebrated as part of the games. [sic]"
The controversy was only exacerbated when one Twitter user pointed out that Smith had their preferred pronouns printed on the back of their skateboard.
Per Out, a spokesperson for NBC Sports has since responded to the backlash, stating: "NBC Sports is committed to (and understands the importance of) using correct pronouns for everyone across our platforms.
"While our commentators used the correct pronouns in our coverage, we streamed an international feed that was not produced by NBCUniversal which misgendered Olympian Alana Smith. We regret this error and apologize to Alana and our viewers."
