Democrat lawmakers’ claims that a Republican-backed bill protecting female athletes would enable sexual predators are driving some longtime supporters away from the party.
Key Facts:
– House Democrats, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Hakeem Jeffries, spoke against the GOP’s Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, saying it allows “predators” to target young girls.
– Republicans disputed that the bill required any invasive inspections, pointing instead to birth certificates as a simple verification method.
– Gary Francione, a law professor and lifelong Democrat, publicly quit the party over these accusations, calling them dishonest.
– Two Democrats, Texas Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzales, sided with Republicans in passing the bill.
– Polling data indicates a broad majority of Americans, including many Democrats, oppose letting transgender athletes compete in female sports.
The Rest of The Story:
A GOP measure named the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act recently passed the House.
The bill aims to ensure that athletes compete on teams corresponding to their biological sex, as verified by birth records.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argued that such legislation would somehow unleash sexual predators on female athletes, but Republicans said those claims did not align with the bill’s language.
Prominent Democrats repeated the argument that this legislation threatens girls by exposing them to invasive checks, yet there is no actual text in the bill calling for that.
A central figure in the backlash is Gary Francione, who has consistently supported LGBTQ rights and abortion rights, yet found the “child predator” narrative so off-putting that he decided to unregister as a Democrat.
Francione told Fox News Digital that he found these tactics “irresponsible” and believed his party had lost its sense of fairness.
Surveys show that concern about transgender athletes in women’s sports resonates with many Americans, including more moderate Democrats.
In November’s election, a strong portion of independents and moderate voters also expressed unease about female competitions being opened to biological males.
Today is a great day in America because House Republicans just passed @RepGregSteube's Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act ensuring men cannot compete in women’s sports.
Men are men, women are women, and men cannot become women. It’s just that simple. pic.twitter.com/aVGJeaB1fS
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) January 14, 2025
Two Democrats ultimately supported the bill, reflecting a split between progressive lawmakers and moderate or conservative Democrats who feel this issue has been mishandled by party leadership.
For some, the tipping point was how the bill’s opponents repeatedly referred to it as a measure that would empower sexual predators, even though evidence for that claim was lacking.
Commentary:
Democrats don’t seem to realize that their extreme positions on gender helped lead to President Trump’s election victory.
Many voters turned away from the Democratic Party because they found this stance out of touch.
If Democrats keep pushing these radical ideas, they risk losing even more seats in 2026, and many see that as a good move for preserving commonsense policies.
The Bottom Line:
This clash has alienated key Democratic voters who view the arguments against the measure as unjustified.
Many of these former supporters say their primary goal is preserving fairness in women’s sports.
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The debate underscores broader tensions between progressive and moderate factions within the Democratic Party.
How leaders handle this issue could shape future voter alliances.