Transgender athletes ‘deprive’ women of opportunity, GOP senators say, push bill to ban them in college sports

A group of Republican senators Wednesday argued that allowing males to compete in women’s sports steals opportunity and potential scholarships from female athletes – as they pushed a bill that would effectively ban males from women’s college sports.  

“The activists who are pushing to open positions on women’s teams on biological men are doing nothing but undermining girls’ competitiveness and the fundamental fairness of all women’s sport competitions,” Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss., said on a call with reporters. 

“By ignoring the difference between biological females and biological males, we will inevitably deprive women and girls of spots on sports team rosters, of playing time during games, and of scholarships,” Hyde-Smith said. 

Sens. Jon Ernst, R-Iowa, Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Hyde-Smith all expressed their support for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. The bill would ban any institutions that receive federal funds, like universities, from allowing “a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.” 

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The bill defines sex as “based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

“I firmly believe no one should be discriminated against and that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect and privacy,” Ernst added. “But we cannot ignore the biological differences in men’s and women’s athletics.”

The comments from the senators come as transgender participation in women’s sports is under the microscope due to the dominance of transgender…