Senate Dems Block Bill Keeping Men Out Of Women's Sports
On Monday, 45 Senate Democrats effectively killed federal legislation aimed at preventing trans-identifying males from unfairly competing against female athletes. The party-line vote was 51-45, with Sens. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Peter Welch, D-Vt, not voting.
45 Democratic Senators voted NO on Protecting Women & Girls in Sports,” former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines wrote on X. “Never, ever let them gaslight you into thinking Democrats care about ‘women’s rights’…”
Known as the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025, the proposed legislation sought to alter the Education Amendments of 1972 by making it unlawful for entities who receive federal dollars and facilitate, operate, and/or sponsor “athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.” The bill specifies that sex “shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
Monday’s procedural vote required support from at least 60 senators to move the bill forward to a final vote in the Senate. A companion measure previously passed (218-206) in the House of Representatives in January, with only two Democrats voting alongside all Republicans in support.
The bill seemingly sought to codify protections included in an executive order signed by Trump last month. That directive vowed to strip federal funding for educational programs that allow woman-pretending males to compete against female athletes.
According to the New York Post, a recent New York Times/Ipsos poll found that the vast majority of Americans (79 percent) — including two-thirds of self-identified Democrats or leaning-Democrats (67 percent) — believe that men who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in female athletics.
[READ: NCAA Had The Power To Keep Men Out Of Women’s Sports This Whole Time]
Responding to Monday’s vote, Senate bill sponsor and Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., noted how “at least now the American people know the truth” about where Democrats stand when it comes to protecting female athletes.
“Even after @realdonaldtrump’s landslide election, Democrats STILL support men competing in women’s sports,” Tuberville wrote on X. “This is far from over. I’ll NEVER stop fighting to protect women and girls.”
Incidents exposing the dangers and unfairness of allowing trans-identifying men to participate in women’s sports have generated nationwide attention in recent years.
Last year, for example, numerous collegiate women’s volleyball teams forfeited matches against San Jose State University to protest the allowed participation of SJSU’s Blaire Fleming, a trans-identifying male.
Video of SJSU’s match against San Diego State University in October reportedly showed Fleming spiking the ball in the face of his female opponent. According to the New York Post, the female player “was knocked down after the hit, and the crowd audibly gasped.”
Fleming and SJSU ultimately lost the Mountain West Conference championship game to Colorado State.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood