Democrats boycott Senate hearing on women's sports

Democrats boycotted a Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on protecting women's sports from participation based on gender identity. The hearing was chaired by Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, the committee's top Democrat, criticized the proceeding as a “vendetta against a small number of people in the trans community” and an irresponsible use of committee time. Durbin argued that the focus on transgender athletes is not a priority for most Americans and claimed that the hearing could lead to “inappropriate gender verification checks” for cisgender female athletes. He stated that the primary threats to female athletes are issues such as unequal pay, resource disparities, and Title IX violations.

During the discussion, Durbin noted that NCAA President Charlie Baker had indicated there are fewer than 10 known transgender athletes among approximately 500,000 college athletes.