EXCLUSIVE: As the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act heads to the Senate after passing the House, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., believes it will continue to garner bipartisan support there, just as it did in the Camera.
Blackburn told Pak Gazette Digital in an exclusive interview that he has spoken to several Democrats of all parties who support restricting trans inclusion in women’s sports.
“Many of my Democratic friends will tell you that they believe Title IX exists and that having biological men running against women is inappropriate, and they want opportunities for their daughters or nieces or granddaughters, and they find it frustrating when they hear or about or witness a transgender man playing in a girls’ or women’s league,” Blackburn said.
Senator Marsha Blackburn speaks during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024. (Getty Images)
When the bill passed the House last Tuesday, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, were the only two Democrats to vote for it. Blackburn hopes and hopes that there will be several Democratic senators who will vote in favor of the bill when it reaches the Senate.
“I would hope there would be, I hope there would be,” he said.
However, most Democrats have strongly opposed the bill. Many have gone so far in their opposition by making unsubstantiated claims that the law would allow child predators to perform genital examinations on girls.
Many of the 206 Democratic House representatives, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., made that argument even though there is no language in the bill stating that genital examinations would be used.
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Republicans insisted that proof of birth sex can be determined simply by a birth certificate. Democrats’ attempt to tie the bill to empowering child predators has alienated many loyal voters from the party, Pak Gazette Digital previously reported.
Blackburn says he has “no idea” what those Democrats who argued this would result in the empowerment of child predators are thinking.
“I find it very difficult to believe that protecting girls in sports would have such an adverse effect,” Blackburn said. “Looking at the content of the bill is the best way to argue against it and know that a large majority of Americans support protecting girls in women’s sports.”
A recent New York Times/Ipsos Poll found that the vast majority of Americans, including most Democrats, do not believe transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said that biological men who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
Controversies over trans athletes competing against women became a key election issue in 2024, when President Donald Trump and Republicans vowed to take action to prevent it.
The Republican Party has indicated that it will make good on its promise very soon, as the Women and Girls in Sports Protection Act was the first bill introduced to the 119th Congress. Blackburn plans to strongly defend the bill once it reaches the Senate, where the Republican majority and some Democrats are expected to pass it to the White House for Trump to sign into law.
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However, Blackburn doesn’t stop there. It will also present three other proposals to address the issue at both a legislative and cultural level.
The Tennessee senator introduced a resolution calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to repeal its eligibility policy for transgender student-athletes, along with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.
NCAA President Charlie Baker he faced questions and criticism from Republican lawmakers over these policies during a congressional hearing on December 17. Baker repeatedly cited federal law and recent federal court rulings that have allowed this. Blackburn and Steube’s ruling would force Baker and the NCAA to follow a new precedent.
Blackburn will also introduce a bill to assess and prevent violence against women in athletics. The Girls Fair Play Act, which, in addition to keeping women’s sports for women, “would require the Attorney General of the United States to submit to Congress an analysis of violence against women in athletics.”
“We’ve talked to different women who have had adverse impacts,” Blackburn said. “This would require the attorney general to do an analysis and look at what’s happening in the world of sports with women and for women and then look at where there are impediments to fair competition for girls, where there are cases of girls losing opportunities. because a girl has joined their team or is playing in their league, and then also examining harassment against women and girls in athletics.
Blackburn even seeks to make conscious protection of women and girls in sports ingrained in American culture with a resolution declaring October 10 as “American Girls in Sports Day,” which Senate Democrats blocked the last Congress.
The date, October 10, which translates to XX in Roman numerals, is intended to refer to the XX chromosomes that determine the female gender at birth.
“It would just be for teams and schools to celebrate their teams and treat it as a time for schools to provide opportunities to coaches of girls who have excelled in different sports. I think it would be a source of encouragement for more girls young people to participate in sports,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn’s legislative proposals have been backed by Riley Gaines, Jennifer Sey, Caitlyn Jenner, Sage Steele, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Parents Defending Educational Action, and Independent Women’s Forum.
