The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday on fairness, safety and opportunity in women’s sports, but no Democratic senator on the committee stayed to question witnesses or introduce their own.
Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) addressed the absence during the hearing. “It can’t go unspoken that not one member on the other side of the aisle has had the respect for women to come in here and ask questions, to figure out how we get this right, how we stand up for fairness, for safety, for an opportunity for young women across the country,” Britt said.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was present briefly, delivering an opening statement before leaving. Durbin said the subject isn’t among the top 10 or 20 issues Americans want Congress to address, following an opening statement from Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who said more people care about removing “damn cell phones” from kids in school.
Durbin also cited a conversation with NCAA president Charlie Baker, the former Republican governor of Massachusetts, who told him there were fewer than 10 known transgender athletes among roughly half a million college athletes nationwide.
Public polling on the issue shows a different picture of where Americans stand. A 2025 summary of Pew Research polling found 73% of Americans were uncomfortable with transgender athletes competing on sports teams that do not match their sex at birth, and 66% of adults favored a law or policy requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams matching their sex at birth.
The hearing comes amid ongoing state-level fights over the issue, including in Massachusetts, where lawmakers this year moved to expand abortion access, a separate flashpoint in the broader debate over how state and federal policy treats women’s rights and protections.
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