Linda McMahon speaks out on protecting women and girls from trans athletes during confirmation hearing
Linda McMahon made her stance clear on trans inclusion in women's and girls' sports during her confirmation hearing for education secretary on Thursday.
"I do not believe that biological boys should be able to compete against girls in sports, and I think now that certainly not only have the people spoken, because that was something that Trump ran very heavily on, but I believe the court has spoken," McMahon said.
A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America (CWA) legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump's opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls and women's sports and of transgender boys and men using girls and women's bathrooms," as important to them. And 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."
Trump vowed during his 2024 campaign to ban trans athletes from women's and girls' sports. Trump made good on that promise early when he signed the No Men in Women's Sports executive order on Feb. 5.
Prior to that, the Supreme Court ruled in August to deny a Biden administration emergency request to enforce portions of the former president's Title IX rewrites that would allow biological males in women's and girls' changing rooms.
And as McMahon looks to get confirmed as education secretary, she insists on carrying out the original mission of Title IX, and keeping women's sports for biological females.
"We are really back to what Title IX was originally established to do and that was to protect social discrimination. Women should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn't have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them," McMahon said Thursday.
"I heard one person the other day say, 'Well, guys should just hold the shower curtain in front of them so that they aren't exposing themselves.' I mean really, that's just not what we should be doing. We should be making sure that Title IX, which is the law, should be enforced."
The Biden administration education secretary, Miguel Angel Cardona, supported allowing trans athletes to compete in women's and girls' sports.
Cardona helped draft the Title IX changes that would have prohibited blanket bans of transgender athletes on public school teams.
In a June 2021 interview with ESPN, Cardona said "transgender girls have a right to compete."
"Our LGBTQ students have endured more harassment than most other groups. It's critically important that we stand with them and give them opportunities to engage in what every other child can engage in without harassment," Cardona said.
"It's their right as a student to participate in these activities. And we know sports does more than just put ribbons on the first-, second- and third-place winner," he said. "We know that it provides opportunities for students to become a part of a team, to learn a lot about themselves, to set goals and reach them and to challenge themselves. Athletics provides that in our K-12 systems and in our colleges, and all students deserve an opportunity to engage in that."
Now, under the Trump administration, there will be multiple layers of efforts to prevent trans athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports, and McMahon's agenda will be one of those layers if she is confirmed.
A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people polled, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports.
Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democratic, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
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