WATCH: Timcast News Reporter Removed from Trans Rights Event After Asking Activists to Define Woman

Charlotte Clymer: ‘Chromosomally, we can’t determine what a woman is. Biologically, it’s very hard to define’

By Chris Karr  |  September 27, 2023

Timcast News field reporter Elad Eliahu was removed from a transgender rights event after asking the panel of activists to define the word “woman.”

The event, titled “Trans Rights in America,” took place at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 26. The panel featured Montana state Representative Zooey Zephyr, journalist Erin Reed, Oklahoma state Representative Mauree Turner, and activist Charlotte Clymer.

During the Q&A portion, Eliahu approached the microphone and said there didn’t appear to be a consensus on terms.

“So, what is a woman?” he asked. “And if it is just self-identifying, then is there any limiting principle to that?”

Amid scattered murmuring from the audience, Clymer offered to take the question before asking Eliahu to provide his definition.

“I’m a journalist, so I came to ask you,” he replied.

“Well, I want to ask you: what is a woman?” Clymer said.

Eliahu said he believes it comes down to genetics and chromosomes.

“That’s interesting that you say that, because there are—” Clymer interrupted.

At that point, a woman in the audience told Eliahu, “I don’t think this is the venue.”

“I think the speaker is fine responding,” he said.

“I’ll give a quick answer,” Clymer said. “There are cis-gender women with XY chromosomes, there are cis-gender men with XX chromosomes. Chromosomally, we can’t determine what a woman is. Biologically, it’s very hard to define. This is what we see over and over again.”

Clymer added: “What really angers me about this question is that the people never seem to be able to give a straight answer themselves.”

“I just did,” Eliahu said.

“Eh, you didn’t though,” Clymer replied. “Because you just gave an answer that was literally just defined chromosomally, is what I’m saying.”

“OK, well, so what’s your definition of a woman?” Eliahu said.

“It sounds like you just got one, dude,” the woman nearby said.

“Do you have a definition?” Eliahu pressed.

“I don’t,” Clymer said.

At that point, a person in a suit — whom Eliahu supposes could be associated with College Democrats, the group which hosted the event — approached the reporter and said he could only ask one question.

The person then placed a hand on Eliahu’s back and escorted him out of the auditorium.

“There was next to no physical force because I was compliant in leaving,” Eliahu said afterward, noting there were also a couple police officers in the back who never approached.

Some have speculated that the event was held in opposition to another event on campus featuring The Daily Wire’s Michael Knowles, who planned to speak about “the dictatorship of minorities.”

In March, Knowles gave a speech at CPAC that garnered widespread attention for its view of transgenderism.

“If transgenderism is true — if men really can become women and women really can become men — then it is true for everybody of all ages,” he said at the time. “If transgenderism is false, as it is — if men and women really are different, as we are — then it is false for everybody, too. And if it is false, then we should not indulge it, especially since that indulgence requires taking away the rights and customs of so many people.”

“There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism,” Knowles continued. “Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely — the whole preposterous ideology, at every level.”

Clymer, who identifies as a transgender woman, is the former press secretary for Human Rights Campaign. Clymer has been described by Sojouners, a progressive periodical, as one of the most prominent trans activists in the country.

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