NCAA president says it’s ‘debatable’ that male athletes have an advantage over female opponents, gets grilled by Sen. Kennedy
‘You think it’s debatable? . . . you don’t think that a biological male has an advantage every time competing against a biological female?’ Sen. Kennedy asked Baker.
‘Why don’t you go to Amazon and buy a spine online, and take a stand?’ Kennedy concluded.
The head of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Charlie Baker, recently stirred controversy at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing when he said it is uncertain if male athletes have physical advantages over females, among other comments.
The hearing, which took place Tuesday, saw Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) grill Baker over the NCAA allowing men to compete against women.
“A transgender woman is a biological male,” Kennedy began. “And a biological male is always going to have a physical . . . advantage competing in a collegiate sport against a biological female. Isn’t that true?”
Baker responded: “There’s not a lot of research on it, but it’s certainly debatable.” Kennedy responded: “You think it’s debatable? . . . you don’t think that a biological male has an advantage every time competing against a biological female? Is that your testimony?”
Baker seemed to backtrack: “No, I think defined the way you defined it, yes, I would agree with you.” Kennedy retorted: “Why do you support allowing . . . biological males to compete against non-transgender biological females?” Baker responded by stating that several federal judges decided that men should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Kennedy concluded: “Why don’t you stand up and say, in front of God and country, ‘federal law is wrong, and the NCAA believes in fair competition. . . . our job is to promote fairness in sports, and biological males are not going be allowed to compete against biological females’? Why don’t you go to Amazon and buy a spine online, and take a stand?”
Other senators also questioned Baker, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who pushed back on the NCAA’s regulation allowing men to use women’s facilities and vice versa on the basis of their so-called “gender identity,” according to Fox News.
Baker responded: “Everybody else should have an opportunity to use other facilities if they wish to do so,” Fox News reported.
The participation of men in women’s sports is a development that has rocked colleges and universities with repeated controversies.
Recently, a male player, Blaire Fleming, was allowed to join San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball team, where his unfair physical advantages contributed to the team’s success and caused several opponent teams to forfeit their matches in protest rather than face Fleming.
Campus Reform reached out to Charlie Baker and Sen. Kennedy for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.