Female Dem senators block bill banning men in women’s sports
Senate Democrats, most of whom are female, blocked a bill on Monday that sought to ban biological men from competing in women’s sports.
The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, introduced by Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), would have ensured that “for purposes of determining compliance with title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” If passed, the legislation would have added two clauses to Section 901 of the 1972 Education Act:
(1) It shall be a violation of subsection (a) for a recipient of Federal funds who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.
A version of the bill passed the House in January and needed 60 Senate votes to invoke cloture, which would end debate over the bill and advance it to a final vote at a later date. But the legislation was blocked by a 51-45 vote, with every Democrat voting nay. Two Democrats and two Republicans were absent.
Are women enforcing gender ideology in sports?
Of the 45 Democrat senators who voted against the bill, 25 are female. The bill also received pushback from female lawmakers in the House in January, when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) slammed Republicans for supporting the bill:
"Bigoted folks love this bill. Assaulters love this bill,” she said on the House floor. “But also, CEOs love this bill because Los Angeles is on fire right now and this is the number one priority this majority has."
The vote is a further indication that women are the primary enforcers of policies that allow men in women’s sports. Seven out of nine members of the NCAA’s Inclusion Office, for example—which allowed men in women’s collegiate sports in 1,100 schools across the country—are female. Most articles advocating for men in women’s sports are written by women, including a New York Times piece in December written by Juliet Macur who referred to women as “non-transgender women.”
Surveys of women in Western countries have found that the majority of female athletes support men competing against women and do not believe males hold an “unfair advantage” against females. Most men strongly disagree.
A study published last year found that 81% of female athletes think governing bodies should be trying harder to include people who identify as transgender, and 66% believe transgender athletes are treated unfairly in sports. However, 93% of those who compete in world-class level sports and rely heavily on physical competitiveness are against allowing men to compete with women.
According to a 2022 Pew Research poll, 62% of women feel “there is a great deal or a fair amount of discrimination against transgender people.” Only 52% of men agree. Women have also been more likely than men to say it is “extremely or very important” to use a person’s “new” name or “preferred pronouns.”
