A Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on fairness and safety in women’s sports held Wednesday drew no questions or witness examination from Democratic members of the panel, according to remarks made during the session by Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL).
“It can’t go unspoken that not one member on the other side of the aisle has had the respect for women to come in here and ask questions, to figure out how we get this right, how we stand up for fairness, for safety, for an opportunity for young women across the country,” Britt said.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) did attend briefly to deliver an opening statement before leaving. Durbin said the topic isn’t among the top 10 or 20 issues Americans want Congress to address, and suggested more people are concerned about removing “damn cell phones” from schools than about transgender participation in women’s sports. The hearing was chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).
Durbin also referenced a conversation with NCAA president Charlie Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, who told him there are fewer than 10 known transgender athletes among roughly half a million college athletes nationwide.
Polling cited from a 2025 summary of Pew Research surveys found that 73% of Americans said they were uncomfortable with transgender athletes competing on sports teams that do not match their sex at birth, while 66% of adults said they favored a law or policy requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching their sex at birth.
The hearing took place amid ongoing national debate over state and federal policies governing transgender athletes’ participation in women’s and girls’ sports, an issue that has drawn attention in state legislatures including Alabama, Illinois, Iowa and Massachusetts.
