Watching this washington journal segment on our cspan now app. We take you live now to a house hearing on the Biden Administration s rule changes to title ix which redefines the definition of sexual discrimination to include gender identity. Live coverage here on cspan 3. We are missing a witness. We are missing a witness. I am sorry about that. I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement. Quite simply, men do not belong in womens sports. Let me say it one more time. Men do not belong in womens sports. The simple fact is, that this needs to be said out loud, is really kind of a sad reflection of where the other side is. There should be no debate about this. However, we are here today because the Biden Administration is choosing to ignore the truth and, i might add, the science. The truth is, that by allowing biological males to compete in womens sports is fundamentally unfair. It is also unsafe. Scientific evidence i will say that again. Scientific evidence affirms that biological males and females have unchangeable physiological differences attributed to their some of these differences benefit male athletes. For example, males typically have greater muscle mass, lung capacity and bone density. All of these characteristics give the males a competitive advantage over females. This is why women should compete against women and men should not compete against them. That is what title ix was designed to protect. We are placing our daughters in danger every time they step onto the field. This hearing is about protecting women, period. I am standing up for the rights of women, children, my daughter, your daughter, my granddaughter. I am frustrated as i continue to hear about female athletes who are injured by biological males competing in female sports. I am a mother. I have two daughters. Any parent will tell you that the most sacred responsibility is to protect their children and that is what i am trying to do and that is what this hearing is about. That is why today is about protecting our daughters, nieces, and our granddaughters. It is time for us to get off the sidelines and actually stand up for them. Unfortunately, the Biden Administration has let this policy before women and girls in a fraudulent effort to be inclusive. The Biden Administration is sacrificing the quality, instead of defending the hard fought protections that title ix secures. Think of how long we fought for title ix, for equality for women. The Biden Administration proposed two rules that will drastically alter title ix. The Biden Administration proposed rule redefines facts to include gender identity and expands title ix reduction protection to title ix males. These were implemented for women and girls. If the Biden Administration is successful, it will mean that more women will lose out on academics and athletic opportunities that should have been afforded to them under title ix. Again, the whole reason we put together title ix is because we celebrated the 50 Year Anniversary of title ix. We have seen title ixs success in securing equality for women across the country. We cannot allow this administration to dismantle the rights and protections that women fought so hard to achieve. We must protect women and girls and i encourage my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stay centered on this issue throughout the hearing. To our panel, thank you, thank you. I am looking forward to having this very important discussion and i now recognize the Ranking Member for your opening statements. Thank you, madam chair. Although the title of this hearing implies a muchneeded discussion, we are likely going to be forced to listen to trans phobic bigotry because actually, protecting female athletes in title ix is important. Participating in sports provides so many benefits to our young people. The benefits range from improving physical and Mental Health to improved life skills such as teamwork and goal settings. In terms of Mental Health, studies show that participating in youth sports is associated with lower rates of anxiety and depression, lower amounts of stress, higher selfesteem and confidence and reduced risk of suicide. Why are my republican colleagues working so hard to prevent our transchildren from participating . According to the human rights campaign, in the first 143 days of 2023, elected officials across the nation introduced more than 520 antilb gt bills and legislature. 23 stains banned trans youth from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity with some loss focusing on kids as young as kindergarten. How competitive is kindergarten . You all are working so hard at excluding a bunch of kids. I think it is important that we raise the voices of Transgender Athletes, their families and teammates. I would like to read a few of their stories written in the first person. The first from a professional track athlete, model, and advocate. I was a former d to National Champion in the 400 Meter Hurdles and i am now a professional athlete trained to make it on the team usa and represent them in the following to come. Mainly, sports have given me strength, taught me how to overcome fear. Sports have given me collaborative skills that were developed throughout the years of human athletes and having teammates. Taught me how to stay focused with the necessary skills. It has given me clarity and freedom. Transgender women and girls, transgender people are not afraid. We dont play sports to cheat. We deserve the right of any other women because that is what we are. There were rules and regulations that define our ability to compete. The narrative that builds on myself and trans kids in the community is negative. It feels as though people dont want us to exist and in order to change the narrative, we need to stop these antitrends bills. They are dehumanizing and our kids are dying. I believe the government should step up and support trans people on all levels. From amber, a transgender female High School Softball player. When i was younger, i played coed baseball. I loved it. When the teams became single sex, i no longer fit in. I am ostracized. Most difficult part was not feeling like myself. I came out as trans in seventh grade and wanted to play softball but my state required transgirls to take hormones for a year before they can play a sport. I waited for three years. During that time, i became self conscious, comfortable with my body and lost all my confidence. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. I was finally approved to play on a girls team in the spring of my sophomore year of high school. Playing on the girls team has been an incredible experience for me. I have made so many friends and improved so much. My teammates treat me just like everyone else on the team, so to my coaches. My team is part of my family. We are also different. When we are together on the field, we care for each other no matter what. Every kid should be lucky enough to have this experience. From debbie jackson, the parent of nonbinary kid, my child avery is now 15 years old. Avery does not remember what it was like to be viewed as a boy. We have supported the transition before kindergarten. During that time, avery was a coed trampoline class at a local gym. The gymnastics classes at the gym were divided by gender and they began referring to avery is our daughter, avery asked to move into gymnastics. It was one step toward being affirmed authentically. To this day, some of my favorite photos and videos are from the first day of the class when avery marched so confidently onto the mat with a barely grownup traditional boyish haircut next to a gaggle of other girls with their ponytails. Avery followed every word from the coach, trying forward roles and falling off the balance beam with every step, literally. Avery was the most gloriously awkward nonathletic creature i have ever witnessed. I can safely tell you that avery is still gloriously awkward nonathletic creature will never in any athletic endeavor but participating in sports is not about winning. Playing sports helps with Mental Health, teamwork, provides camaraderie with others and teaches discipline and goal setting. It opens doors to connection and community with others. Is what my child experienced in that class another kids deserve to experience those benefits too. I am so thankful that avery did not have to choose between not participating in sports or being forced to participate as a boy, forcing it transgender child to choose. Think about how it would feel to have your body openly discussed by others or have the basic rights debated in the public forum. Matt is what you are doing two innocent kids. Please leave our kids alone. They deserve so much better from people in power. I want to thank people for sharing their stories and reminding us that this is about children and daughters and sons and siblings and friends. These are real people with real experiences. I ask unanimous consent to enter these letters to the committee for Transgender Athletes provided by the National Center for Transgender Equality. Without objection. Sports are a vital aspect of education that offers important lessons. Athletics will allow young people from diverse backgrounds to engage in Healthy Movement and play, learn how to work as a team. Madam chair, i ask that while we sit through this hearing and hear the hateful misinformation i am sure will come our way, let us not forget that children are at the core of this issue. Yield back. Thank you. I will not recognize our witnesses for today. Ms. Riley gaines is a former collegiate athlete for the university of kentucky and now serves as an ambassador for the independent womens voice. Welcome. Ms. Sarah perry is a senior legal fellow in the third center for legal and judicial studies at the Heritage Foundation. She is also a former senior counselor to the assistant secretary for civil rights at the u. S. Department of education. Ms. Kim russell is the former head womens lacrosse coach at oberland college and now serves as an ambassador for the independent womens forum. Finally, the president and ceo of the National Womens law firm. Thank you again for being here. Pursuant to the Committee Rule 90, the witnesses will please stand and raise their right hands. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony that you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record show that the witnesses answered in the affirmative. Thank you. You may all take a seat. Again, i now recognize myself excuse me. I now recognize the witnesses for an opening statement. We have read your written statement and we will have it appear in full in the hearing record. Please limit your oral statements to five minutes. As a reminder, please press the button on the microphone in front of you so that it is on and other members can hear you. You will begin to speak in the light will turn green. After four minutes, the light will turn yellow and then the red light will turn on. Your five minutes are expired and we will ask you to please wrap up. I now recognize ms. Gaines for her opening statement. Thank you. My name is riley gaines and i am asking ambassador brenda womens voices i am here to urge you to protect womens sports and uphold the original intent of title ix. My story is well known. I was a student at the university of kentucky where i was also member of the womens swim team, finishing my collegiate career as an all american, a fivetime s. E. C. Champion, still the s. E. C. Recordholder in the 200 butterfly, make me one of the fastest americans of all time. In march 2020, female swimmers from around the country and i were forced to compete at ncaas against formerly thomas. We watched as this male swim through Womens National title, beating out the most impressive and accomplished female swimmers in the nation including olympians and american record holders. Despite tying with the 200 freestyle, i was denied the trophy because the ncaa claimed it was necessary for thomas to hold the trophy and photos were being taken. It was clear to me, my teammates and my competitors that they had reduced everything we had work our entire lives for, down to a photo op to validate the feelings and the identity of a male. That is not all. In addition to losing out on opportunities to thomas, we also had to share a locker room and change in front of the 64, fully intact naked male. As i have testified previously, we were not forewarned of this arrangement and we were not asked for our consent and we did not give our consent to this exposure and to be exploited. Unfortunately, thomas was not a oneoff. Across the country and in various sports, males are entering womens the competitions, being given spots and womens teams and being granted entry to our locker rooms. There are numerous documented incidences of males not competing in swimming but womens crosscountry, field hockey and other sports at all levels of competition. This issue is incredibly underreported for various reasons but common sense americans know that intuitively, this is not fair to women. Science supports that instinct. Studies consistently show males have a 12 athletic advantage over females. This gap is evident in almost every sport at every level of competition. Yes, hormone therapy can narrow this gap but it cannot close it and studies consistently demonstrate that surgery and testosterone suppression do not suppress to female levels. Take thomas for example. He was mediocre against the men at best, ranking 400 and 500 nationally and in dominating all of the women in the entire country by body lengths in a matter of a year. Not only do women have to worry about losing opportunities and being exploited in locker rooms, allowing men into womens sports puts girls at greater risk of injury. In september of last year, North CarolinaHigh School Volleyball player suffered serious injury after a trans identified male player spiked able to her head, rendering her unconscious. Patent experienced extensive trauma in her head and neck and longterm concussion symptoms. Still to this day, a year and three months later, she is still partially paralyzed on her right side. Vision is impaired. Memory is impaired and she is not playing College Sports like she dreamed of for herself. Just a few weeks ago in massachusetts, a male player on the field hockey womens team injured an opposing player with a shot to the face, sending the female athlete to a hospital with significant facial and dental injuries. Injuries can and do happen when females are playing against other females but allowing them to play womens sports increases the likelihood of the severity of such injuries. That is one of the reasons why, for 50 years, federal title ix regulations have allowed schools to offer separate teams for women and men when the sports or Contact Sports or involve competitive skill. In april 2023, the department of education proposed a rule that would reverse this assumption. Under the proposed rule, womens sports are not just for women. They are for anyone who simply says they are a woman. Unless a particular school can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department of education and keeping a particular team female meets important educational objectives. The new rule mandates that every school in the country must demonstrate the unfairness of male participation on each specific womens team that they offer undeveloped rules that minimize harm to trans identified athletes. What about the harm to us . Who is working to minimize the harm done to female athletes . Let me be perfectly clear. A school unknowingly allows a male athlete to take a spot on a womens timor allows a male athlete to take a field and womens game is denying the female Student Athletic opportunity and that is sex based discrimination and it violates title ix regardless of what the new regulations might say. It is my sincere hope that members of this committee will take action to stop the Biden Administrations illegal and administrative rewrite of title ix. Of course, there is a place for everyone, regardless of gender identity, regardless of Sexual Orientation. Regardless of race or what sports you play. Unsafe, unfair and discriminatory practices against women must stop. Inclusion cannot be prioritized over safety and fairness and my testimony makes if my testimony makes me transphobic then you are a misogynist. Thank you. I now recognized the opening statement. Good afternoon. My name is sarah perry and i am a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. As a former varsity athlete, the mother of the girls varsity athlete and senior counsel for civil rights, the department of education i have, as the saying goes excuse me. Moved to have the gentleman words taken down. The committee will suspend. Madam chair, she is engaging in personality. Can i just ask, how it is fair to be called transphobic . I would say men describing themselves as women are engaging in personality hang on. Order, order. Lets get a ruling. Will ruling. Moved to withdraw the point of order. Thank you. I know recognize ms. Perry for her opening statements. You can start over. Thank you. Chairwoman mclean, Ranking Member lee and distinguished members of the subcommittee, my name is sarah perry and im a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. Is a former varsity athlete and the mother of a girls varsity athlete and former senior counsel for civil rights at department of education, i have, as the saying goes, skin in the game. What we are discussing today is an athletics scandal, a fraud of unprecedented proportions perpetrated by the federal government on american students. It turns obvious distinctions between the sexes into nothing more than the myth of a bygone era while expecting female athletes to simply look the other way. In education, one law should stand agai