Longtime sports columnist Matt Calkins resigned from The Seattle Times on Thursday. He has spent 11 years with the newspaper outlet, but decided to leave following an editorial dispute. 

Calkins said the decision followed the newspaper’s refusal to publish a column connected to Sophie Cunningham’s stance towards transgender athletes. 

The Indiana Fever guard recently said that trans athletes should not compete in women’s sports. Cunningham also added that her stance on the issue is to help protect young girls in the locker room. 

Calkins said he wrote the article after the controversy that happened during the Fever-Seattle Storm game on July 28. Two Washington student-athletes attended the game wearing XX-XY Athletics shirts to support Cunningham’s comments.

The now-former Seattle Times columnist said editors had his article for weeks before ultimately deciding not to publish it.

“I tried to write a column through the eyes of two student athletes who were kind of speaking out against biological males in girls/women’s sports.” Calkins said.

“All they said was that, ‘You didn’t tell us you were doing this in advance, uh, so we can’t run it.’ But I didn’t buy the excuse,” he added.

Calkins said he wanted to give the student-athletes a platform to share their perspective. Despite his resignation, he said that he has no ill feelings towards the Times.

“I have a lot of respect for my editors,” he said. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I were in their situation either.”

Cunningham, on the other hand, has continued to defend her position on this polarizing issue. On top of that, the eight-year veteran also remains an integral part of the Fever squad. She is Indiana’s fourth-leading scorer despite coming off the bench.

Related: Fever Star Sophie Cunningham Reacts to Behavior of Tempo Fans Towards Her