Former Democrat congressional representative Tulsi Gabbard hammered the Harris campaign on the issue of trans athletes in women’s sports at the “Stand With Women” forum in Philadelphia on Sunday.
With just a week left until an election where the topic of protecting women’s sports has become a hot button issue, Gabbard gave attendees a reminder of Harris’ record in enabling transgender inclusion. Gabbard also warned that a Harris presidency would likely lead to increased enabling of it.
“So this is the danger and the contrast, and one of the reasons why I’m supporting President Trump in this election,” Gabbard said, alongside former NCAA swimmer and OutKick contributor Riley Gaines. “Because you’ve seen what they’ve already done over the last four years under the Harris-Biden administration. Everything that we’ve seen on this issue and so many others — it will get radically worse if Kamala Harris is elected.”
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The Biden-Harris administration has already taken sweeping actions that can enable transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
The administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on “sex” discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and “pregnancy or related conditions,” in April. The administration insisted the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that it would ultimately put more biological men in women’s sports.
Multiple states filed lawsuits and enacted their own laws to address this issue, and then the Supreme Court then voted 5-4 in August to reject an emergency request by the Biden administration to enforce its sweeping changes in those states.
Democrats have proposed other federal legislation that would allow for more transgender inclusion in women’s sports. These include the Equality Act, which was proposed in 2019 and has seen revisions that “would force public schools to allow biologically male athletes who identify as transgender on girls’ sports teams.”
In March 2023, Democrats advocated for a transgender bill of rights, proposing a resolution “recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights.” The resolution specifically called for federal law to ensure that biological men can “participate in sports on teams and in programs that best align with their gender identity; [and] use school facilities that best align with their gender identity.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event in Burns Park Monday, Oct. 28, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
On the other side, Idaho’s Republican Gov. Brad Little issued an executive order in August to enforce the “Defending Women’s Sports Act,” which would require schools and colleges to prohibit transgender athletes in women’s sports.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Little acknowledged concern that his order could result in public schools in his state losing federal funding if Kamla Harris becomes the 47th president.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Little said. “From a national standpoint, there are radical little groups that want to implement changes in the rules that we have already. I’m confident in what we have, and we will aggressively (act), as the state of Idaho, both legally and legislatively, to protect women’s athletes and the great advances they’ve made because of Title IX.”
Multiple instances of biological men competing in women’s sports have occurred in the months leading up to the election, both at the college and high school level, leading to national controversy.
At the college level, the San Jose State volleyball team has seen five opponents forfeit this year amid the presence of a transgender player on the team and another player engaged in a lawsuit against the NCAA that alleges she was never told about the biological sex of that teammate. California is a state in which there are no laws to prevent transgender inclusion in women’s sports.
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The University of Nevada, Reno recently had a widely-publicized dispute with its own volleyball players on whether to forfeit its match against San Jose State when players voted to forfeit, but the university didn’t agree to right away. Nevada told Fox News Digital in a statement that it couldn’t forfeit because it would violate an amendment in the state constitution meant to prevent gender discrimination. But that amendment was added by Democrats in 2022 when the state legislature voted to add it to protect transgender athletes from discrimination.
The school eventually announced it would forfeit last Friday after it didn’t have enough players, and claimed that forfeiting for that reason was not a violation of state law, in a statement to Fox News Digital.
At the high school level, multiple Obama-era federal judges have passed rulings that allow transgender inclusion in girls sports. Judges Landya McCafferty in New Hampshire and M. Hannah Lauck of Virgina each passed rulings this year that enabled biological males to play on high school girls soccer and tennis teams. Both judges were appointed by Obama in the early 2010s.
However, the issue extends beyond the U.S.
The United Nations released study findings that say nearly 900 biological females have fallen short of the podium because they were beaten out by transgender athletes.
The study, titled “Violence against women and girls in sports,” said that more than 600 athletes did not medal in more than 400 competitions in 29 different sports, totaling over 890 medals, according to information obtained up to March 30.
“The replacement of the female sports category with a mixed-sex category has resulted in an increasing number of female athletes losing opportunities, including medals, when competing against males,” the report said.
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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.
