Durbin and Duckworth Are Okay With Men in Women’s Sports

Written by David E. Smith

In January, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 28, a bill that would bar gender-confused male students from participating on women’s school sports teams. The legislation passed by a narrow margin of 218-206, with only two Democrats voting for the bill. It was sponsored by U.S. Representative Gregory Steube (R-FL).

Last month, U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) reintroduced S. 9, legislation to save women’s sports and preserve Title IX protections for female athletes. As a former coach and educator for 40 years, Senator Tuberville has been a champion in the fight to protect women’s sports throughout his time in Congress. Last year, he forced a vote on an amendment that would protect female athletes by keeping men out of women’s sports – all 51 Democrats voted against it.

This week, U.S. Senator Tuberville again attempted to move his bill to a vote. His motion to invoke cloture (end debate) required 60 votes, but Democrats blocked his attempt. It fell nine votes short.

Both U.S. Senators from Illinois, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Durbin actually took to the U.S. Senate floor in an attempt to justify his nay vote, asking: “…how many NCAA athletes are there in the United States?” He went on to explain:

I asked Mr. Baker, former governor of Massachusetts that question and he said, “Over 500,000.” 500,000. And I said, “Of all those athletes, what percentage are transgender?” “Oh, fewer than 10.” I said, “Fewer than 10%?” No fewer than 10 total out of 500,000 are transgender, and yet we’re going to come to the floor with a proposal from Senator Tuberville to vote on this issue.

Even one mentally confused man competing in women’s sports should not be allowed. But Senator Durbin thinks fewer than 10 are okay. Why wouldn’t Senator Durbin support this legislative effort to stop any and all corruption of women’s sports? Why would he speak against a bill that protects female athletes from being defrauded by even “fewer than 10” male competitors?

Ironically, Outsports, a pro-LGBTQ sports publication posted an article a few months ago highlighting “25 trans athletes who have won regional, national or international titles in women’s sports.”

Evidently, it is more prevalent than Senator Durbin or Mr. Baker will admit.

Senator Durbin closed his remarks on the U.S. Senate floor with an emotional story of a transgender teenager from Alabama before posing another rhetorical (and ridiculous) question:

It’s that important and we’re going to vote here to give someone unspecified the right to physically inspect a girl or a young woman if the other opposing team accuses them of being transgender. My goodness, is this what we’re all about here in the United States Senate?

No Senator, no one is suggesting a physical inspection. However, many athletes must undergo a urinalysis to monitor their physical condition and ensure compliance with anti-doping regulations. This same urinalysis can be used for DNA testing to disqualify males attempting to participate in women’s sports.

In his address before Congress on Tuesday night, President Donald Trump highlighted an egregious example of this abuse, in which a male runner,

…finished a long-distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman for a new record by five hours. Broke the record by five hours. It’s demeaning for women, and it’s very bad for our country.

We are deeply grateful that Illinois U.S. Representative Mary Miller (R-Quincy), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, is vocally in support of this common sense effort to protect women’s sports from transgender males, saying:

“The American people spoke loud and clear in November that they do not want men in women’s sports or locker rooms. We cannot allow Democrats to erase Title IX, endangering our girls and undermining years of hard work. I applaud Coach Tuberville for his leadership, and I’m glad that the Senate is following through on the mandate given to us.”

She is absolutely correct. A New York Times/IPSOS poll released in January found a whopping 79% of U.S. adults oppose allowing transgender athletes in female sports, including 67% of Democrats and 64% of independents.

Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer at the University of Kentucky, where she earned 12 NCAA All-American honors, had to compete against “Lia” Thomas, a male swimmer from the University of Pennsylvania. The two competed against each other at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, most notably tying for fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle final. Despite the tie, Thomas was awarded the fifth-place trophy on-site—reportedly for “photo purposes” — while Gaines was told her trophy would be mailed to her later.

Gaines has since become a vocal advocate against mentally confused men participating in women’s sports, arguing that it undermines fairness and the integrity of female athletic competition. She has highlighted her discomfort with sharing a locker room with Thomas, whom she describes as a “6-foot-4 biological male” with “intact male genitalia,” claiming it created an unfair, unsafe, and invasive situation for her and other female swimmers.

After retiring from competitive swimming in 2022, Gaines shifted her focus to activism, speaking at universities, testifying before Congress and state legislatures, and partnering with organizations like the Independent Women’s Forum to push for policies that exclude transgender women from women’s sports categories.

Gaines is outspoken in her support of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, saying that with the U.S. House’s passage of H.R. 28,

“[W]e are one step closer as a nation to making sure that not one more male athlete is able to take a trophy, a roster spot, playing time, resources or an opportunity to compete, from a woman.”

Gaines responded to the vote in the U.S. Senate with a post on X:

45 Democratic Senators voted NO on Protecting Women & Girls in Sports.

Never, ever let them gaslight you into thinking Democrats care about ‘women’s rights’… pic.twitter.com/I1IyApksIH

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 4, 2025

Gaines has been a bold, winsome voice in opposing transgender men’s participation in women’s sports and we are thrilled to have her as our keynote speaker at the IFI annual banquet on November 7^th.  Save the date!

Take ACTION: Click HERE to send a message to U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth to let them know how disappointed you are in their unwillingness to protect women and support common sense legislation. Urge them to protect the integrity of women’s sports and ensure a level playing field for biological females.

When men invade women’s private spaces and are allowed to compete in women’s sports, they not only violate their dignity, but they also rob them of their privacy, safety, and opportunity.

In the meantime, Indiana Governor Mike Braun just signed an executive order to prohibit transgender males from competing in college sports for women. Take action today to demand the same commonsense actions at the federal level!

Click HERE to watch Riley Gaines’ 5-minute interview with Sean Hannity in which she calls out Democrats for their failure to protect women in sports.