Senators, It’s Time To Defend Female Athletes
By Janae Stracke via The Daily Signal | March 03, 2025
For decades, women fought for the equal rights that men in this country had enjoyed from its inception. Yet recently, and under Democrat rule, these hard-fought freedoms have been thrown into jeopardy from the Left demanding that women share their sports and private spaces with men pretending to be the opposite sex.
Female athletes have been thrust into this danger head on. With sports leagues and schools allowing men to compete in women’s and girls sports, females are forced into a biological disadvantage that has jeopardized their safety and scholarship opportunities both on and off the field.
Decades of advocacy led to the creation of Title IX in 1972, the crucial law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education and sports programs funded by federal tax dollars and allows women to have their own sports teams.
Title IX allowed me the opportunity to compete in sports like volleyball, basketball, track and field, and cross country. The personal development and leadership skills I learned through those sports team opportunities transferred to other areas of my life and have absolutely propelled me in life and my career, as is the case for many female athletes.
However, the Department of Education under the Biden administration proposed an interpretation of Title IX to expand the prohibition against discrimination based on sex to include a prohibition based on “sex stereotypes, sex-related characteristics (including intersex traits), pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.”
This egregious overhaul of Title IX not only goes against the biological realities of male and female, but it flips Title IX on its head and ends up doing the very thing it was created to stop: It discriminates against women. Allowing men to “identify” as women in order to benefit from special protections afforded to women unilaterally displaces women and girls and puts them in harm’s way.
Prospective female student-athletes have been forced to compete with males for an extremely limited pool of scholarships and roster spots. These men possess natural physical advantages that strip women of opportunities to play collegiate sports.
According to a 2020 study from the British Journal of Sports Medicine, male athletes who have “transitioned”—whether surgically or chemically—to try to take on the persona of a woman retain a competitive edge against women even after two years of taking estrogen.
Fortunately, when I was in high school, my former teammates and I never had to worry about males undermining our opportunities, titles, scholarships, or putting our well-being at risk on the court or field. In my senior year, I qualified for the last spot to compete in a relay at the coveted Iowa Girls High School Track and Field State Meet. However, if I were competing today, almost any male could have bumped me from that spot.
Sex-denying activists insisting men should participate in women’s sports threaten these opportunities for future generations of female athletes, and Americans know it’s not right.
President Donald Trump heard the battle cry from Americans, and within days of being sworn into office, signed an executive order defending women’s sports and restoring the original Title IX protections. This was the first major step to securing our safety, but Congress now must codify Trump’s executive order into law so the freedom of our daughters, sisters, and nieces can flourish just like it did for so many women before them.
Thanks to the extensive work of grassroots Americans, fighting radical gender ideology at the state and federal level has become a major priority for lawmakers. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., has been leading the charge for the past two legislative sessions in Congress by introducing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (S. 9).
The critical piece of legislation will be debated on the Senate floor this week.
As a former coach, Tuberville knows firsthand the importance of safeguarding athletic opportunities for women and girls. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act strongly pushes back on gender ideology’s attack on female athletes and returns the dignity and opportunities our mothers and grandmothers fought so hard for.
It is a landmark bill that answers the call from millions of Americans to defend the aspirations and safety of female athletes by prohibiting grade schools and colleges from receiving federal funds if they operate, sponsor, or facilitate athletic programs that allow males to compete in athletic programs designated for women or girls. It would successfully codify Trump’s executive order, and senators who care about fulfilling the mandate the American people gave him should support it.
Thankfully, the House has already done its part and passed with bipartisan support the companion legislation to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act sponsored by Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla. Senate Republicans have a duty to join the House in rejecting radical gender ideology and ensuring female athletes have athletic opportunities available to them without fearing for their safety or losing their scholarships to men.
The American people demand accountability from Democrats for putting their daughters in harm’s way. As demonstrated by the results of the 2024 election, the Democratic Party’s embrace and ardent refusal to abandon radical gender ideology had consequences and will be its downfall in the 2026 midterm elections if they continue on this course.
Americans have made our rejection of radical gender ideology clear time and time again. By passing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, the Senate can do its part to preserve opportunities for our daughters and future generations.
Janae Stracke is grassroots director for Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of The Heritage Foundation.
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