Senate Dems stop legislation that would have blocked men from competing with and against women athletes
A Senate Democrat accused Tuberville of ‘trying to churn the social wars about something that really doesn’t exist.’
President Trump signed an executive order similarly banning men from women’s sports.
Democrats in the Senate recently stopped a bill that is meant to protect women’s sports from the participation of men who “identify” as women.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) introduced the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” on Jan. 7, which would have “[e]nsure[d] Title IX provisions treat gender as ‘recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth’” and would have stopped schools from allowing men to complete on female sports teams.
The Democrats filibustered the bill on Monday, and Republicans could not garner the necessary 60 votes to override the opposition.
Democrats bashed Tuberville’s effort to keep men out of women’s sports, with Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) saying that the Alabama senator was “trying to churn the social wars about something that really doesn’t exist.”
President Trump passed an executive order on Feb. 5 titled “Keeping Men out of Women’s Sports” to cut off federal taxpayer funds from higher education institutions that enable men to join women’s sports teams.
Allowing men to participate in such teams on the basis of their so-called “gender identity” results “in the endangerment, humiliation, and silencing of women and girls and deprives them of privacy,” Trump wrote.
Tuberville’s legislation, if passed, would have codified a similar ban into law.
Trump had previously passed an executive order on Jan. 20 combating gender ideology, stating: “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.”
The issue of men joining women’s sports teams gained national attention in 2024 when a male player, Blaire Fleming, joined San Jose State University’s female volleyball team. Fleming, who “identifies” as a woman, initially hid his true identity as a man from his female colleagues.
His participation gave his team an unfair advantage, according to critics, and several other female teams resigned in protest rather than play against him.
Campus Reform has reached out to Sen. Tuberville for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
