As the 2024 Olympics kick off in Paris this week, we’re thinking of all of our female athletes – some whose right to compete on the biggest stage in the world was nearly stripped in the name of inclusion. After participating and winning accolades in the female NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Lia Thomas sought legal action to be allowed to pursue a spot on the U.S. women’s national team in Paris. Had the challenge been successful, Thomas would have joined New Zealand weightlifter and Tokyo Olympian, Laurel Hubbard, in receiving praise from the Left for “making history” or exuding “courage.”
But there is nothing historic about turning back the clocks 50 years to a time when women did not have an equal playing field. And there’s nothing courageous about stealing opportunities that women have worked towards for their entire lives.
Not too long ago, these statements were considered non-controversial and indisputable. Women were championed for their successes in athletics – receiving trophies, scholarships, and recognition for their leadership. But that all changed when the Biden administration entered the White House.
In just under four years, Joe Biden and the radical Left have completely overhauled Title IX protections and erased equal opportunity for women in order to fit their woke narrative.
It all began with a simple question: can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’? It’s not a trick question, and yet, a female nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States could not answer because she wasn’t “a biologist.” On the surface, that might not seem like a big deal, and it was shrugged off by many liberal commentators. In reality, Justice Jackson’s inability to give an uncomplicated definition raises serious questions about her willingness to protect women, especially in cases relating to Title IX.
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It’s almost laughable how quickly the Democrats rushed to mimic the hypocrisy. Since Justice Jackson’s viral moment, Merriam-Webster changed its definition of the word ‘female,’ Michelle Obama used the term ‘womxn’ in a social media post, and the Justice herself referred to pregnant women as “pregnant patients” in a dissenting opinion.
Imagine that: the Party that loves to brag about how pro-woman they are, can’t even define the term, let alone bring themselves to say the word. After all, with so many pronouns in today’s world, why should being a woman be so special?
Respectively, as a female United States Senator and a former 12x All-American swimmer with direct experience of this injustice, we have both been given unique voices to stand up against the movement by the Left to erase women’s sports. In our home state of Tennessee, we know the difference between a man and a woman. We know that men do not belong in women’s sports. We know that women are uniquely gifted and should be recognized for their accomplishments. It’s all common sense.
But that’s not the case everywhere, and the Left would love nothing more than to get us all to conform to their standards. The war against women is no longer hypothetical, and while Lia Thomas may have lost the battle this time, the Left’s persistence knows no bounds. Allowing males to compete against females will be the new norm for Americans competing at every level — including at the 2028 Olympics — if something isn’t done.
That’s why we will keep up the fight — whether it’s in Washington, in the media, or in the sports arena. Future generations of girls depend on us to preserve the equality that generations before us fought so hard to achieve.
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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn serves as Tennessee’s first female United States Senator.
Riley Gaines is a spokeswoman at Independent Women’s Forum and a 12x All-American swimmer from the University of Kentucky.
