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.
“This is not a partisan issue,” McCarthy said at the panel. “I will tell you as I go across the country, it’s a fairness issue.”
“Allowing biological boys to compete in women’s sports is wokeness at its worst,” he added on Twitter. “It erases women. It can deprive them of the opportunity to be champions, excel at sports, and earn college scholarships.”
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.).
“Today, on Girls & Women in Sports Day, I listened to female athletes tell their stories of unfair competition, and I commit to them and to you—I will always stand up for a level playing field for women in sports,” McCarthy said in a separate post on Twitter.
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.
Last year, Gaines found herself competing against Lia Thomas, a biological male transgender athlete, in the NCAA swimming and diving championships. They tied for fifth place in the 200-meter freestyle event.
By Frank Fang
