Sen. John Kennedy on Tuesday went after NCAA President Charlie Baker, at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on legalized sports gambling, for the NCAA not banning trans women from women’s college sports.
“Why don’t you go to Amazon and buy a spine online and take a stand?” the Louisiana Republican said to Baker at the hearing.
Baker at the hearing contended that the NCAA merely follows federal law to allow trans athletes the opportunity to play — something Kennedy rejected.
“I’m sure the NCAA is a good organization. I just can’t figure out what you folks are good for,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy: “Why don’t you take a position on transgender biological males competing against females? You just told me it wasn’t fair.”
Baker: “There’s a federal standard on this, is one that we would work with you on, if you wish to work on it.”
Kennedy: “Why don’t you do it on your own?”
Baker: “Because we’re a national governing body and we follow federal law.”
Kennedy: “That’s what you're there for. Why don’t you stand up and say, in front of God and country: ‘Federal law is wrong, and the NCAA believes in fair competition. We also believe in equality. … In America, you can be whatever you want to be. You can be whomever you want to be. But our job is to promote fairness in sports. Biological males are not going to be allowed to compete against biological females.’”
The hearing focused on the pros and cons of legalized sports betting and whether the federal government should regulate the massively growing industry amid fears of more Americans becoming gambling addicts. But several Republican senators also used their time to go after Baker, the former GOP governor of Massachusetts, over the NCAA not banning trans athletes. Republicans have argued trans women athletes have an unfair physiological advantage over athletes assigned female at birth. The NCAA in April said it was reviewing its policy on trans athletes, amid pressure from right-wing activists and after a smaller collegiate athletics association, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), banned trans women from most women’s sports programs.
Anna Baeth, the director of research at Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ equality in sports, estimated in May that there are fewer than 40 transgender athletes in the NCAA. The NCAA has more than 500,000 athletes overall.
