Grill lawmakers on women’s sports rules

On Tuesday, March 4, the U.S. Senate voted on the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025”. 51 Republicans voted “yea” while 45 Democrats voted “nay” (there were two Republican and two Democratic non-votes). The bill failed because it could not meet the 60-40 filibuster threshold.

In many bills, there are extraneous provisions to which legislators on both sides can object. But, this bill is not one of those. Following is the entire text of the bill (which is an amendment to section 901 of the Education Amendments of 1972):

“(1) It shall be a violation of subsection (a) for a recipient of Federal funds who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls.

(2) For purposes of this subsection, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”

In a New York Times/IPSOS poll conducted between Jan. 2 and 10 of this year, 79% of respondents indicated that biological males should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports, 18% said they should be allowed to compete and 4% refused to answer.

Both of our senators (Durbin and Duckworth) voted against the bill, along with the rest of their Democratic colleagues. Will the Illinois media ask them to explain their votes in the context of this poll or are their constituents left to infer that both senators are in favor of biological males competing in female sports in federally-funded institutions?

Randy Harris

Campton Hills