What’s New
U.S. Senator Josh Hawley got into a heated exchange with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) President Charlie Baker about transgender athletes competing in sports on Tuesday during a hearing in Washington on the impact of legalized sports gambling.
Why It Matters
Transgender rights have become a lightning rod for Republicans in recent months as GOP lawmakers double down on their push to ban transgender athletes from participating in some sports, and from accessing restrooms and changing rooms that correspond with their gender identity.
When it was Hawley’s turn to question Baker on Tuesday, he grilled the NCAA president about whether “biological men” should be allowed to play in women’s sports.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
“Did you say the federal law requires the NCAA to permit biological men to play in women’s sports?” Hawley asked.
“No, I said there have been five cases in federal court in the past 18 months” and “in all five of them, federal judges sided with participation,” Baker said.
“You’re affirmatively permitting biological men in women’s sports, but you said to him it’s because of federal law,” Hawley said, referring to Baker’s response to a question on the issue from Republican Senator John Kennedy. “There’s no federal law that requires it, right? The relevant federal law is Title IX, is it not?”
Title IX is a landmark federal civil rights statute that protects students from sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex.
“Guidance on this issue from Title IX, or guidance with respect to discrimination law would be—” Baker began, before Hawley cut him off.
“Title IX is already the law,” the Missouri senator said. “Title IX says—”
“Federal judges have ruled on this—” Baker said. He broke out laughing when Hawley interrupted him again.
“Let’s just dispense with that canard,” the Republican senator said. “No federal court has ordered the NCAA to include biological men in women’s sports, right? There’s not a single case which has ordered the NCAA to do so, correct?”
“That’s pretty much what they decided,” Baker said.
“No,” Hawley shot back. “Don’t say pretty much. This is — we’re talking about the law here.”
Sen. Josh Hawley: “No federal court has ordered the NCAA to include biological men in women’s sports, right?”
NCAA President @CharlieBakerMA: “That’s pretty much what they decided.”
Hawley: “Don’t say pretty much. We’re talking about the law here.” pic.twitter.com/JEE48Huzb1
— CSPAN (@cspan) December 17, 2024
What To Know
It’s not the first time Hawley and Baker have clashed over transgender women participating in women’s sports.
The Missouri senator sent Baker a letter last year asking him to clarify the NCAA’s policy on transgender athletes’ access to locker rooms.
Baker sent Hawley a six-page letter in response, saying that lockers, bathrooms and changing areas “specific for the sport and separately available to men and women are provided for each championship site. Specifically for the Division I Swimming and Diving Championships, single-person, gender-neutral options are also available for all participants.”
“Host entities are expected to provide several components to support the administration of championships,” Baker wrote. “Further, a host entity’s local and/or campus regulations require adherence and may impact the administration of championships.”
He added that regarding locker rooms, the NCAA and its host venues “adhere to applicable local, state and federal laws regarding access to facilities.”
The NCAA also drew criticism related to the gender identity of a player on the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team. Neither the player nor SJSU have publicly commented on the player’s gender.
But in September, SJSU volleyball player Brooke Slusser joined more than a dozen women athletes in a lawsuit against the NCAA over the matter, alleging that the organization violated cisgender women athletes’ Title IX rights by allowing transgender women to compete against them.
Shortly after Donald Trump’s election win was announced, Democratic Representative Seth Moulton of Massachusetts told The New York Times: “Democrats spend way too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many Americans face.”
“I have two little girls,” he added. “I don’t want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but as a Democrat I’m supposed to be afraid to say that.”
Moulton faced a protest in Salem, Massachusetts, after those remarks.
What People Are Saying
Republican lawmakers, in a letter urging the Mountain West Conference to ban transgender athletes from playing sports that correspond to their gender identity: “Permitting biological men to play in women’s sports is not equitable; it is an injustice. Under these guidelines, it is only fair that biological males play men’s sports and biological females play women’s sports.”
Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary under President Joe Biden: “Look, if that was actually an issue at thousands of schools across the country, then it would be worthy of a debate. But there are just incredibly few examples of transgender girls playing in youth sports. And when we see those examples, there isn’t evidence that these kids are a threat to safety or fairness.”
What Comes Next
There is no indication that Republicans will back down from their opposition to the transgender community any time soon. If anything, they’ll likely double down on it.
Republicans swept the 2024 U.S. election, nationally and on the state level, after months of hammering Democrats with misleading attacks about the trans community.
The battle came to the halls of Congress shortly after the election, when South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace introduced a resolution barring transgender people from using the restroom that corresponds to their gender identity. Mace’s resolution came on the heels of Delaware electing the first transgender lawmaker, Sarah McBride, to the U.S. House of Representatives.
There is no evidence that transgender women pose an increased threat to safety in bathrooms. Transgender people are also several times more likely to be victims of violent crimes than those who are not transgender, according to a 2021 study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
McBride weighed in on Mace’s proposal at the time on X, writing, “Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different than their own and engage with them respectfully, I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness.”
