USA Today newspapers remove Sen. Kennedy's op-ed on trans athletes

Multiple Louisiana papers that are part of the Gannett newspaper network, which owns USA Today, removed an op-ed about transgender athletes written by Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy.

The message, "This content has been removed because it did not meet our editorial standards," is displayed on the webpage after users click on the link that originally contained the op-ed.

"We recognize the importance of sharing varying perspectives and the vital role we play convening conversations," Gannett Opinion Editor and Vice President of Standards and Ethics Michael McCarter told Fox News Digital on Friday after the op-ed was discovered to have been taken down.

"Sen. John Kennedy’s submitted opinion column did not meet our ethical guidelines, which state we will treat people with respect. After further review, our editorial team removed the column from our website. Sen. Kennedy has been given the opportunity to revise his language - not his viewpoint - to adhere with our standards," McCarter also said. 

Kennedy criticized Gannett's decision.

"They think they are the speech police. Drunk on certainty and virtue, they think they are our moral teacher. This attitude is why so many Americans have lost confidence in the media. The media is not going to win that trust back until they return to neutrality instead of advocacy," the senator said. 

"Most people don’t support allowing biological men to participate in women’s sports because they think that will bastardize sports, skew the results, and hurt women. Other people disagree," Kennedy added. "Gannett should simply report the two sides and not try to silence the position it disagrees with."

The op-ed, titled, "Is transgender inclusion more important than women’s sports?" was originally published on May 11 by eight Louisiana-based Gannett papers.

Follow Madeleine Hubbard on X or Instagram.