Senator Blackburn expects more Democrats to vote for legislation that protects transgender athletes

EXCLUSIVE: How the Law on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports goes to the Senate after passing through the House representative, Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., believes she will continue to receive bipartisan support there, just as she has in the House.

Blackburn said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that she had spoken to several of them Democrats across the street who advocate limiting trans inclusion in women’s sports.

“Many of my friends who are Democrats will tell you that they think Title IX is a thing and that it’s inappropriate to have biological men competing against women and wanting opportunities for their daughters or nieces or granddaughters, and it’s frustrating for them to hear or witness a transgender man who plays in a women’s or girls’ league,” Blackburn said.

When the bill passed the House of Representatives last Tuesday, Reps. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and Vicente Gonzales, D-Texas, were the only two Democrats to vote for it. Blackburn expects and hopes there will be more Democratic senators who will vote for the bill when it reaches the Senate.

“I would expect there would be, I would hope there would be,” she said.

However, most Democrats remain staunchly opposed to the bill. Many have gone so far in their opposition as to make baseless claims that the law would authorize child predators to perform genital exams on young girls.

Many of the 206 Democratic House lawmakers, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., made that argument despite the fact that the bill contained no text referring to the use of genital exams .

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Republicans have insisted that proof of gender can simply be determined on the basis of a birth certificate. Democrats’ attempt to tie the bill to empowering child predators drove many loyal voters away from the party, Fox News Digital previously published.

Blackburn says she has “no idea” what those Democrats who argued that this would result in the empowerment of child predators were thinking.

“I find it very hard to believe that protecting girls in sports would have such a negative effect,” Blackburn said. “Looking at the substance of the bill is the best way to oppose it and know that the vast majority of Americans support protecting girls in women’s sports.”

Recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found that the vast majority of Americans, including most Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.

Of the 2,128 people who took part, 79% said biological males who identify as female 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 against women.

Controversy over trans athletes competing against women has become a key election issue in 2024, as President Donald Trump and down-ballot Republicans vowed to take action to prevent it.

The GOP indicated it would follow through on its promise very early on, as the Protecting Women and Girls in Sports Act was the first bill introduced in the 119th Congress. Blackburn plans to push hard for the bill when it reaches the Senate, where the Republican majority and some Democrats are expected to send it to the White House for Trump to sign into law.

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However, Blackburn doesn’t stop there. She also presents three other proposals for solving the problem at the legislative and cultural level.

The senator from Tennessee is introduced the resolution calling on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to revoke its transgender student-athlete eligibility policy, along with Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla.

NCAA President Charlie Baker faced questions and criticism from Republican lawmakers for these policies during a December 17 congressional hearing. Baker repeatedly cited federal law and recent federal court rulings that made this possible. The Blackburn and Steube resolution would force Baker and the NCAA to follow new precedent instead.

Blackburn is also introducing a bill to assess and prevent violence against women in athletics. The Fair Play for Girls Act, which, while keeping women’s sports for women, would “require the U.S. Attorney General to submit to Congress an analysis of violence against women in athletics.”

“We talked to different women who had negative effects,” Blackburn said. “That would require the Attorney General to do an analysis and look at what’s happening in the world of sports with and for women, and then look at where there are barriers to fair competition for girls, where girls are losing opportunities because a girl joined their team or play in their league, and then look at the mistreatment of women and girls in athletics.”

Blackburn is even calling for conscious protection of women and girls in sports to be ingrained in American culture with a resolution declaring October 10 “American Girls in Sports Day,” which Senate Democrats blocked last Congress.

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The date, October 10, which translates as XX in Roman numerals, is supposed to indicate the XX chromosomes that determine female sex at birth.

“It would just be teams and schools celebrating their teams and treating it as a time for schools to provide an opportunity to coach girls who have excelled in different sports, I think it would be a source of encouragement for more young girls to participate in sports.” , Blackburn said.

He supported Blackburn’s legal proposals Riley Gaines, Jennifer Sey, Caitlyn Jenner, Sage Steele, Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, Parents Defending Education Action, and Independent Women’s Forum.

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