Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tore into Republican lawmakers during a congressional hearing regarding bans on transgender athletes in sports. AOC acknowledged the proposed sports bans as being discriminatory and transphobic, which they undoubtedly are. Then she went on to unpack the horrifying ramifications of these kinds of bills, which affect not only trans athletes but cisgender ones as well.
“I think about this all the time because trans people in the United States doesn’t even exceed one percent of our population and yet, there are so many resources, energy, and time dedicated to figuring out how we can more finely exclude them from our sports.” AOC continued, “I started to realize that a lot of these proposals here involve invasions of privacy of all women.”
AOC then asked Fatima Goss Graves, president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, what “sex testing” entails. The answer is horrifying. Goss Graves said, “In some states, it requires actual genital verification, which is shocking.”
If you’re appalled by the above statement, you’re not alone. Ocasio-Cortez responded, “In Ohio, there was a proposed ban on trans athletes that originally allowed for genital examinations on minors in order to quote-unquote protect women.” She added, “And so we’re seeing here, in this guise, under this guise, of not only trying to further marginalize trans women and girls, we’re opening up all women and girls to genital examinations when they are underage.”
She added, “Per usual, I don’t believe we’re sitting here in a panel of men that has actually thought about the biology and privacy consequences of all women, trans or cisgender, here.” AOC then discussed the groups more likely to face this kind of horrific discrimination, namely Black women and girls. Goss Graves noted, “We have seen examples of Black women who are even professional athletes whose bodies have been more examined and demonized.”
We have, of course, seen Black women athletes and their bodies scrutinized, such as South African Olympic gold medalist Caster Semenya. Even international athletic superstars like Simone Biles and Serena Williams have been subject to intense criticism and discrimination.
You know, for a political party that accuses everyone else of grooming, Republicans are awfully desperate to inspect childrens’ genitals.
(featured image: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
