House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said there should be a level playing field for women in sports on Feb. 1, which marks the 37th anniversary of National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
McCarthy hosted a panel in Washington on Wednesday in honor of the day, while raising concerns over transgender men competing in women’s sports.
Other participants in the panel were Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-Va.), 12-time NCAA All-American swimmer and Stand with Women spokeswoman Riley Gaines, NCAA volleyball player and Young Women for America ambassador Macy Petty, former North Dakota State University high jumper Margo Knorr, and retired tennis player Chloe Satterfield.
Gaines hosted a follow-up panel, which was attended by three GOP lawmakers, Reps. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Competition
In the first panel, Gaines shared her past experience competing against biological men, particularly how she had to change in a locker room with them.“It is so wild that you can turn around and see a 6'4” biological man pull down his pants down watching you undress, and no one is willing to stick up for you?” Gaines said.
“If we, as female athletes, aren’t willing to stick up for ourselves, how can we expect someone else to stick up for us,” Gaines said.
Petty shared how she had to compete against biological males for scholarships in front of college recruiters.
“These sports reflect our bodies, right?” Petty asked, pointing to how in volleyball, the men’s net is over seven inches higher than the women’s net. “They’re separated for a reason, and that reason has nothing to do with ideology or identity but biology, and how we’re designed and how we’re created, and how that’s reflected in our sports.”
Satterfield, who is currently attending Georgia Tech, said she had to compete against a female-identifying biological male during her senior year in high school.
Legislation
During the first panel, McCarthy read a statement on behalf of Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.), who announced he had reintroduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.“House Republicans pledged to protect women’s sports. Today we’re delivering on that promise,” the statement said.
“As I’ve said many times, it’s a sad day in America when we have to introduce a bill to say that men will play on men’s teams and women will play on women’s teams,” it continued. “But we’ve seen time and time again how the left only favors fairness when [it] aligns with their woke agenda.”
“So today, I’m pleased to have reintroduced legislation that gives women and girls a fair playing field in competition sports. It ensures that the school athletics comply with the Title IX recognition of a person’s reproductive biological and genetics at birth.”
