Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, Ph.D.,
jeffersonlenskyj.bsky.social
Helen Jefferson Lenskyj, Ph.D.,
@jeffersonlenskyj.bsky.social

Toronto Canada/Sydney Australia. Activist, author, researcher, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto helenlenskyj.ca
My next book: *THE QUEST FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN SPORT*
Emerald Publishing, 2025

Helen Jefferson Lenskyj is a Canadian sociologist and historian. Born and raised in Australia, she did graduate studies at the University of Toronto, where she then became a professor. A scholar of Olympic studies, she wrote several sport history books such as Out of Bounds: Women, Sport and Sexuality (1986), Olympic Industry Resistance (2008), Sexual Diversity and the Sochi 2014 Olympics (2014), and Gender, Athletes' Rights, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (2018), as well as an autobiography called A Lot to Learn (2005). .. more

Political science 38%
Sociology 36%
Riley Gaines climbed the MAGA ladder by vilifying trans women in sports. Now, teammates are speaking out about the real problems on her team: abusive coaching, sexual harassment, eating disorders. ow.ly/o3wq50XuCzp
How right-wing superstar Riley Gaines built an anti-trans empire
The swimmer tied a trans woman for fifth. The MAGA industrial complex took care of the rest.
ow.ly
The race that made Riley Gaines infamous

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I remember my son having to answer questions about how he felt about his ovaries and cervix!!?? 😖

I mean WTAF!!!

As a cis woman I have NEVER had to answer questions like that! It’s just TOTALLY irrelevant! 😣

These kids are just lab rats that the transphobes don’t care about!
Under new NHS puberty blocker trial protocols, trans youth are being subjected to more than 50 assessments, intrusive exams, and over 13 hours of intrusive testing - just to access lifesaving healthcare

It demands young people re-live distress & undergo intimate examinations

#ConversionPractices
Trans Young People Face 50+ Tests and Hours of Intrusive Assessments in the PATHWAYS Puberty…
The publication of the PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial protocols reveals how trans young people are required to complete more than fifty…
medium.com
So proud of the fact that Fredericton will be raising the Palestinian flag on December 1.
You're not asking trans people. You're asking all people. This affects us all. Anyone could be barred from services based on appearance. Since, surprisingly we all have a fecking appearance

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Trans people could be barred from services based on appearance
The new code of practice on access to single-sex services cannot gain legal force until it gets sign-off from ministers.
www.bbc.co.uk
Q: What did the president mean when he called a reporter "piggy"?

LEAVITT: Look, the president is very frank & honest with everyone in this room. You'll all seen it yourself. You've all experienced it yourselves. And I think it's one of the many reasons the American people reelected this president
THIS IS BIG

For non-academics who might not understand why:
1. Sen. Warren is still a Harvard professor so this is a call coming from inside the house
2. As a tenured law prof, Warren knows it is a VERY big deal from a labor standpoint to call on Harvard to ignore tenure. The bar for this is HIGH.
Per CNN, Elizabeth Warren is calling on Harvard to cut ties with Larry Summers after Jeffrey Epstein's emails released last week by House Dems featured Summers making sexist comments + asking for Epstein’s romantic advice.

A search for Liz
This picture says everything about the state of our nation right now, peaceful clergy being arrested and forced face-down on the pavement.
Today is a good day to remember, and to say, that the #MeToo movement was right, and was righteous, and has been vindicated over and over again. There was no overreach. There was no excess. There was no they-went-too-far.

So much work remains to be done.
Pacific Koel, a couple of days ago. These visit every year but are usually heard and not seen. I was pretty happy to get this.

My latest @theguardian.com: As a genuine soccer fan & generational political talent, freshly elected NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani might be able to achieve the unthinkable: force the FIFA behemoth to share its lucre by targeting its tax exemptions & extreme privilege www.theguardian.com/football/202...
Zohran Mamdani has upended US politics. Now he should take on Fifa | Jules Boykoff
New York’s mayor-elect has taken on powerful institutions. With the World Cup taking place in his city, he should challenge Fifa next
www.theguardian.com
We’re hiring!

Our new resume portal is live, and we’re looking for top talent in NYC to help build this administration and deliver on our affordability agenda.

Could that be you? Apply using the link below.
transition2025.com/apply
NEW! “Eddy’s appearance on Fox and Friends this morning was perhaps a sign that she is setting herself for a post-soccer career that mirrors another underperforming athlete—Riley Gaines.”
someone tell the women's sports leagues that transphobia is a losing issue
also, have the transphobes tried simply being better at sports??
www.thefrankiedlc.news
If you are an academic—instructor or grad student—please sign this letter of solidarity for Professor Farhana Sultana who has been vilified by the right for calling CK what he was.

They are trying to come for her job.

This is the time for solidarity.

forms.gle/8MayBcCmtYg1...
Letter of Support for Professor Farhana Sultana
As scholars within and beyond academia, we write in solidarity with academic freedom of expression with our colleague, Dr. Farhana Sultana, an internationally recognized scholar and tenured Full Profe...
forms.gle
Still can't wrap my head around the fact that internationally renowned activist Greta Thunberg said she was tortured and sexually humiliated by Israeli soldiers when she was abducted for trying to bring aid to starving civilians and the world just shrugged and moved on.
now that's what I call a Mamdani endorsement. Don't threaten New Yorkers with a good time, Dave. www.yahoo.com/news/article...
Dave Portnoy Threatens To Move Barstool Sports Out of New York City If Zohran Mamdani Becomes Mayor: ‘I Hate This Guy So Much’
Portnoy, 48, admitted that he has already asked his "finance guy" to begin looking at potential office spaces outside of the city.
www.yahoo.com
Earlier this year, I met a Croatian journalist who was in the US doing a piece on America’s politics and I asked her what surprised her. And she said, “What you all call the far left is just being normal.”
By almost any measure, Cheney was the most powerful vice president in history, the "architect and executor of President Bush's major initiatives," writes Robert McFadden. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/u...
Election humor from the New Yorker
It's not in this article but the government asserts that the sandwich was thrown at "point blank range", which implies subway sandwiches have defined effective weapon ranges of varying lethality, and I would like to see the government's chart of these ranges.
For any unfamiliar with the quality of journalism at Teen Vogue, it's well known for hard-hitting stories on "politically sensitive" topics including climate.

Then there's CBS: the only major network to increase climate coverage in the last few years. They just axed nearly their whole climate team.
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.

certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
dissatisfied by the New York Times coverage of Zohran Mamdani?

great news! I talked to the guy Thursday about his campaign’s success at bringing community together beyond this election, and contextualized how it’s potentially shifted youth engagement with politics by simply listening @teenvogue.com
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com
Satellite images from the El Fasher massacre are such that bloodstains can be seen from space.

What more will it take for the world to take action to end the horror in #Sudan?

Where is Canada @mark-carney.bsky.social & @anitaoakvilleeast.bsky.social?
A Sudanese massacre foretold: the grim familiarity of the RSF’s rampage through El Fasher
Atrocities unfolding in El Fasher since it fell to paramilitary forces follow a bleak pattern seen in Rwanda, Liberia and Sudan itself, including lack of international action
www.theguardian.com
Best treat of the night.

#HappierHAMILLWEEN 🎃 😋
oh just straight up gutter racism!
So here's Andrew Cuomo reacting to Maria Bartiromo wondering if Mamdani will "change the look of New York" and have Muslim women "completely covered up," telling her that Mamdani "doesn't understand New York culture" because he has "dual citizenship" and "he's a citizen of Uganda."
The German company that makes the mechanical ladder used in the Louvre heist has used the image to advertise, with the text 'When you need to move fast'

10/10 response, no notes