The New Hampshire Federation of Republican Women released a statement Monday calling out the state’s two Democratic U.S. representatives for voting to force girls to compete against male athletes in high school and college sports.
“Chris Pappas and Ann Kuster sent a clear message to women in New Hampshire: Virtue signaling and political agendas are far more important than protecting the rights of female athletes to feel safe, practice comfortably, and compete fairly for an opportunity to win on an even playing field,” said NHFRW President Elizabeth Girard.
First Vice President Kim Rice added, “Contrary to what the Democrats would like us to believe, it’s not bigotry or hate to recognize the physical advantages biological men have over women. Women can’t win when men are competing against them. We as women will not be erased.”
The statements are in response to the Democrats’ vote against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act Thursday, which passed the House in a party-line 219-203 vote.
“For purposes of determining compliance with Title IX . . . in athletics, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth,” the bill reads. Senate Democrats are expected to prevent it from coming to the floor for a vote.
Watching female student-athletes forced to compete against males who identify as women has sparked outrage among the competitors and their families. Some traditional feminists who support the principles of Title IX also oppose allowing men to take competitive slots away from women in athletics.
Riley Gaines is a 12-time All-American swimmer with 5 SEC titles from the University of Kentucky who has become a spokesperson for the cause of women-only athletics.
“This should be bipartisan, yet no Democrats in the House voted in favor of HR 734,” Gaines said of the legislation. “I’ll stand with anyone, regardless of party affiliation, who vows to protect girls and women in sports.”
In New Hampshire, a bill affirming the state’s rational interest in recognizing biological sex– as opposed to self-declared sex identity — “in athletic competitions, criminal incarceration, or places of intimate privacy” stalled in the House Judiciary Committee earlier this year when all 10 Democrats voted against it.
Rep. Marjorie Smith (D-Durham) dismissed the need for the legislation to keep men out of women’s bathrooms, locker rooms, and other settings where nudity might occur.
“The fact some people are offended, I think just shows in 2023 we in this country are living with values from the Victorian era rather than values of today,” Smith said.
Greater Manchester FRW Club President Maya Harvey, a former high school athlete, said she is disgusted by the lack of respect for young women who want nothing more than a fair chance to compete.
“With every woman athlete that’s overlooked, every award that’s stolen away, and every career-ending injury that’s delivered by a biological male in women’s sports, we erode the opportunity and dignity of young female athletes in the United States,” Harvey said.
Kuster and Pappas declined to respond to requests for comment.
