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Former President Joe Biden posted on X Saturday to celebrate International Women's Day, and many Americans called out his administration's record of enabling transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. 

"Like so many of you, I'm celebrating the incredible women in my life today. International Women's Day is a time to recognize the achievements of women and girls everywhere and recommit our efforts to advance dignity, opportunity, and equality for all. When women and girls succeed, communities, economies, and democracies succeed," Biden wrote. 

During Biden's presidency, he signed an executive order that allowed trans athletes to compete in women's and girls sports, attempted to rewrite Title IX to allow it and even tried to punish states for taking their own steps to combat the issue. 

Since Biden left office, Democrats in Congress and state governments have done plenty to combat Republican attempts to address the issue. 

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There was a wave of criticism against his celebratory post Saturday. 

Critics included U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, who posted a screenshot of the House of Representatives' vote on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which 203 Democrats voted against. The bill was then filibustered in the Senate when 45 Democrats voted against it. 

XX-XY Athletics, the sportswear brand dedicated to promoting the activism of protecting female athletes from trans inclusion, lambasted Biden for "eroding" women's rights. 

Other Americans shared their own thoughts. 

"They don't succeed when men take over their spaces," one X user wrote. 

Another X user wrote, "Is that why you humiliated our women by putting men in women’s sports? Asking for my Sisters and Daughters ? Or do you even know you did it?"

"Hey Joe. What is a woman? Is your way to celebrate it by letting men into women’s sports? Taking away the identity of actual women?" another user wrote.

Biden's record of allowing trans athletes to compete in women's and girls sports became one of the Democratic Party's biggest vulnerabilities in the 2024 election. 

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

On the first day of his presidency in January 2021, Biden signed an executive order on "Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation." 

The order included a section that said, "Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports." 

In March 2023, Democrats advocated for a transgender bill of rights, proposing a resolution "recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights." The resolution specifically called for federal law to ensure that biological men can "participate in sports on teams and in programs that best align with their gender identity; [and] use school facilities that best align with their gender identity."

In April 2023, Biden's Department of Education proposed a rule change that would have punished schools for preventing trans athletes from competing in women's sports. 

The proposition was titled "Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance: Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams."

The rule would have outlawed individual states from banning participation in single-sex sports by gender identity rather than just sex. There are 23 states in the U.S. that have legislation in place to restrict trans athletes from competing as females in public school sports. 

In April 2024, Biden issued a sweeping Title IX rewrite that issued a ban on "sex" discrimination in schools based on gender identity, sexual orientation and "pregnancy or related conditions." The rule took effect Aug. 1, and, for the first time, the law stated that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity.

It led to more than two dozen attorneys general suing over the rule, arguing it would conflict with some of their state laws that block transgender students from participating in women’s sports.

The Supreme Court struck down an emergency request by Biden to enforce the rewrite in states that defied the rewrite in August. 

When the election came around in Novemeber, Biden's record on the issue may have backfired on his party because it lost the White House, Senate and House of Representatives. 

A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them. 

Additionally, 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."

After President Donald Trump returned to office, he signed an executive order banning trans athletes in women's and girls sports Feb. 5. However, many Democrat-led states have refused to comply with the order despite most Democrats being opposed to it. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found that the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said that biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. 

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

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After losing re-election in 2024, Former Montana Senator Jon Tester has spoken out against trans athletes in women's sports. 

During an interview on HBO's Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday, Tester said he agreed with California Governor Gavin Newsom's recent comments that allowing trans athletes in women's and girls' sports is "deeply unfair." 

"In that statement, Gavin Newsom is 100% correct," Tester said. "We're talking about a very, very, very small amount of people who, by the way, men shouldn't be playing in women's sports. It's a bunch of crap." 

However, Tester also argued, like many other Democrats, that it is an overblown issue. 

"The truth is is that it has been blown way out of proportion," Tester said. "We're talking about that and Congress is acting on that, instead of acting on the issues that impact Americans." 

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A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found that the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said that biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. 

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Meanwhile, a national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them. 

Additionally, 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

Tester lost his seat to former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy back in November, after serving three terms in Montana – a state that has consistently voted for the Republican presidential candidate for decades.

Despite the fact that many Democrat lawmakers and the majority of voters have expressed opposition to trans athletes in women's sports over the last several months, figures like Tester and Newsom have still come up with other reasons not to support GOP-led legislation to address the issue. 

While Tester suggested that the issue does not "impact Americans," Newsom argued that legislation to address the issue doesn't account for the fact that the transgender population is "vulnerable." 

"So, that's easy to call out the unfairness of that," Newsom said on his podcast this week after claiming that trans inclusion is unfair. "There's also a humility and a grace . . . these poor people are more likely to commit suicide, have anxiety and depression, and the way that people talk down to vulnerable communities is an issue that I have a hard time with as well."

"So, both things I can hold in my hand," the governor continued. "How can we address this issue with the kind of decency that I think, you know, is inherent in you, but not always expressed on the issue?"

President Donald Trump signed an executive order to ban trans athletes in women's and girls' sports back in February, but many states, including California, have refused to comply with it. 

On Monday, Senate Democrats voted nearly unanimously to block the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. 

The law would have helped to set a stricter precedent to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports across the country, as many states have so far refused to comply with Trump's executive order to address the issue. But not a single Democratic senator voted to help pass the bill, and filibustered it from reaching Trump's desk. 

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Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., spoke out against the Democrats who blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act this past week. 

Tuberville introduced the bill to the Senate for the second time after failing to pass it through in 2023, only to watch the Democrat minority filibuster the bill with just 45 nay votes. 

All 51 Republicans in the majority voted to pass it through, but it was not enough. 

Tuberville insisted the Democrats voted against the bill because they "hate this country," during an interview on OutKick's "Hot Mic."

"It's a hatred of not just President Trump but for our country," Tuberville responded when asked if they voted against the bill just out of pure opposition and hatred of President Donald Trump. 

"They hate a constitutional republic, they hate the opportunity for people to do what they want to do, they hate free speech and, again, President Trump is upending all the things that [Democrats] stand for, and it's humiliating to watch these people just absolutely crush the Democrat party.

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"I hate it for the Democrats across the country who actually still believe in this country, but the clowns that are up here, they could care less about the United States of America. They care about their control of what they can get out of what people have." 

During Monday night's vote, all Democratic senators voted against the motion to proceed, except for Sens. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., who were absent.

On Feb. 5, President Trump signed an executive order that required all institutions that receive federal funding to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports, but multiple states have defied that order so far. Tuberville's bill would have helped set a stricter precedent and codify Trump's order with more permanence. 

Additionally, despite the fact that recent data has suggested the majority of Americans, including most Democrats, oppose trans inclusion in women's sports, the party rallied to prevent the bill from advancing to Trump's desk. 

Conservative activist Riley Gaines has vowed to help unseat all the lawmakers who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act leading up to the 2026 midterms. Gaines claims to have spoken with Democrat senators who agree that biological males should not compete in women's and girls' sports but are not willing to side with the GOP on the issue. 

"In some of these private, confidential conversations that I have had with several Democratic senators, they assure me that they know it's absurd to allow men into women's sports and that they wouldn't want it to happen to their daughters. But they hide behind many different excuses," Gaines told Fox News Digital.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., was seen giving an exaggerated thumbs-down gesture while voting no on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Monday night. 

Warren held her thumb down for several seconds in the face of the clerk tallying her vote. The clerk even had to tell Warren, "I got you," to assure her that her vote had been counted as the senator held her gesture for an exaggerated amount of time. 

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

Other Democratic senators have made various excuses for opposing the bill, ranging from valuing the protection of trans rights to simply not seeing the issue as a critical priority. 

Meanwhile, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pushed the unsubstantiated argument that the law would subject young girls to genital examinations, which is not rooted in any language within the bill. 

U.S. House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries first made this argument the day the House voted on the bill, Jan. 14, joining other prominent Democratic representatives, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. The argument prompted harsh backlash among some registered Democratic voters. 

Jeffries then repeated this argument on Thursday when asked about California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently saying that trans inclusion in girls' sports is "unfair" on the governor's podcast Thursday. 

"I haven't seen [Newsom's] comments. What Democrats opposed was unleashing sexual predators on girls throughout the United States of America," Jeffries told reporters Thursday. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Trump reaffirmed his intent to punish states that continue to allow trans athletes to compete with girls during Tuesday night's address to a joint session of Congress.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Trump "won't back down" as he goes after these states. 

"The president has made a commitment to ensure that states are being held accountable if they continue to allow men in women's sports, which he believes is an egregious violation of taxpayer dollars. And, so, that fight continues, and the president won't back down," Leavitt said. 

"This is a commonsense policy. Eighty percent of the American people, including more than 60% of Democrats, do not want men in women's sports." 

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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions Wednesday about recent Democrat defiance against keeping trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports. 

During a news briefing, Leavitt scolded the party for its persistent stance on the issue despite data suggesting most Americans oppose trans inclusion in women's sports.

"You can't say you are the party of women and then support men in women's sports and not stand up for basic law and order and immigration reform that will protect women in this country," she said.

President Donald Trump addressed trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports in Tuesday night's speech by honoring guest Payton McNabb, a former girls' volleyball player who suffered permanent brain injuries when a trans athlete spiked the ball in her face in 2022. Trump shared her story during his speech and then vowed to cut federal funding to schools that allow trans athletes to compete.

But McNabb's story was only met with applause from the Republican side of the room as Democrats remained seated and silent.

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However, Democrat congresswomen wore pink during Trump's joint address, one day after Senate Democrats blocked the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. 

"I think the message that Americans should take away from last night is that they have a president who's committed to do what's right [for] them, and I think it's very ironic that Democrat women were wearing pink to support our fellow females, yet they couldn't stand for a woman who was almost killed and severely injured by a man on the volleyball court," Leavitt said. 

McNabb told Fox News Digital that the silence across the aisle was "heartbreaking."

"Even with daughters of their own, the fact that they did not get this bill through is just completely heartbreaking. I'm not the only story, there are so many female athletes who have shared their story, and it's not like they don't know. It's insane that this is the hill they're willing to die on," McNabb said.

"It's just sad … it's just embarrassing."

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

Meanwhile, some Democrat governors across the nation are keeping their states' public schools from following Trump's executive order to keep biological males out of women's and girls' sports. 

Maine, California, Minnesota and Massachusetts are all currently under investigation by the Department of Education for potential Title IX violations after their high schools were instructed to defy Trump's order and to continue enabling trans athletes in girls' sports. The department is also investigating a school district in Washington over the same issue, even after that district voted to ban trans athletes in girls' sports, defying current state laws.

"The president has made a commitment to ensure that states are being held accountable if they continue to allow men in women's sports, which he believes is an egregious violation of taxpayer dollars, and so that fight continues and the president won't back down," Leavitt said. "This is a commonsense policy, 80% of the American people, including more than 60% of Democrats, do not want men in women's sports." 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Conservative activist Riley Gaines has vowed to help unseat all the lawmakers who voted against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, leading up to the 2026 midterms. 

"In some of these private, confidential conversations that I have had with several Democratic senators, they assure me that they know it's absurd to allow men into women's sports and that they wouldn't want it to happen to their daughters. But they hide behind many different excuses," Gaines told Fox News Digital.

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The movement against transgender athletes in women's and girls sports has drawn support from the majority of Americans, politicians in power and even a niche consumer market. Now, one of the leaders of that movement is calling for some big star-powered reinforcements. 

Former NCAA swimmer and conservative influencer Riley Gaines has been one of the most active advocates of the movement, dating back to her infamous tie with transgender swimmer Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships. In 2024, Gaines became the first brand ambassador for the activist sportswear brand XX-XY Athletics. 

The brand gained prominence and profitability by becoming the first sportswear company dedicated to promoting activism against transgender inclusion in women's sports. It also created financial incentives for women's college athletes across the country to take a stand on the issue by signing with the brand. 

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Gaines believes two stars can help propel the brand and movement to new heights.

"People who I think would be critical to this movement are, of course, people like Caitlin Clark, people like Simone Biles, which I think is definitely a stretch, but these are women who have been able to shatter glass ceilings and break barriers, who are role models to young girls across the country," Gaines told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

"To have them emphatically say they [trans athletes] do not belong in women's sports would be, the issue would be solved across all levels, like yesterday, if they were willing to do this." 

Gaines said it's "not as far out of reach" as it sounds due to a culture shift among Americans to protect women and girls from transgender athletes. 

XX-XY founder Jennifer Sey, a former U.S. gymnast and Levi's executive, addressed Gaines' pitch to Clark and Biles in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

"We are always encouraging more female athletes to join the fight. And we’d love to work with anyone standing up for the integrity of women's sports. We are in constant conversations with those who have stood up or are considering doing so," Sey said. "We believe this ends when the athletes defend women’s sports in large numbers."

Sey previously told Fox Business her brand surpassed a seven-figure profit in its first 10 months in 2024, but she still believes her brand is lacking a superstar women's athlete as a brand ambassador. 

"There isn't a top-tier competitive female athlete or coach that has stood up for the protection of women's sports," Sey said. 

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND 

"We don't have any currently competing top-tier athletes who have spoken out. I think that's an illustration of how far we have to go. It should be normal for them to stand up and say, ‘I will fight for the protection of women’s sports,' and yet they haven't because I think a lot of them are afraid of being called terrible names." 

Gaines and Sey say the brand is "in talks" with prominent women athletes, including Olympians. 

"They're in the works and (there are) conversations with many amazing athletes, Olympians and beyond," Gaines said. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

"Thinking about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female — do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports?" the survey asked. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. 

Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

Nearly 70% of Americans say biological men should not be permitted to compete in women's sports, according to a Gallup poll last year.

In June 2024, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents whether transgender athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex. In that survey, 65% answered that it should never or rarely be allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult transgender female athletes competing in women’s sports, 69% opposed it.

However, resistance to opposing trans inclusion in women's sports has prompted harassment and even crime against athletes involved in the movement, including XX-XY Athletics brand ambassadors.

Former San Jose State University women's volleyball co-captain Brooke Slusser, who signed with the brand after speaking out against her school and the NCAA, citing her experience with transgender teammate Blaire Fleming in the fall, told Fox News Digital she had to leave campus this semester after being harassed and threatened for her beliefs. 

Slusser's former SJSU assistant coach, Melissa Batie-Smoose, who appeared in XX-XY Athletics' recent "We See You NCAA" advertisement, had her home shot at in February and believes she was targeted for speaking out against the university's alleged favoritism of Fleming. 

"It's crazy what we have seen from the other side," Gaines said. "But it doesn't have the chokehold that it once did." 

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A Washington state school district has taken matters into its own hands after the blue state refused to comply with President Donald Trump's recent "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order. 

The Tumwater School District's board of directors voted Thursday to ban trans girls from playing for girls’ sports teams. The resolution passed by a vote of 3-1. 

Board member Jill Adams abstained but addressed Trump's executive order banning transgender females from participating in girls' and women's sports.

"A lot of us may disagree with the executive order, but us as school board members are caught between a rock and a hard place," said Adams. "I support different viewpoints, I support different ways of living but it's tough. I'm caught between, not a rock, but a boulder and a hard surface."

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After the resolution passed, disruptive protesters erupted at the district office, resulting in the remainder of the meeting being canceled, per KING 5 News. 

Washington is one of the many Democrat-run states that has allowed trans athletes to play after Trump's executive order, prompting national backlash after a widely publicized incident involving a trans athlete. 

A civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete. 

The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is currently investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment on Feb. 7. 

According to the document, prior to the game Staudt asked the school's principal and athletic director whether the player was a biological male. The administrators then allegedly confirmed that they had been notified that the player was transgender, but denied her pleas to have the player removed.

Staudt removed herself from the game. Then, according to the document, a TSD employee allegedly confronted Staudt's younger brother for taking a video of the game, saying, "You better think twice about what you’re doing right now."

Fox News Digital has reached out to the TSD for comment. 

Staudt appeared on the YouTube series "[un]Divided with Brandie Kruse" with her mother to discuss the situation this week, where they each repeated many of the same allegations included in the complaint. 

CANADIAN CHRISTIAN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM PUNISHED OVER DISPUTED ALLEGATIONS BY TRANS OPPONENT

"I've had threats at me. I've had people telling me I'm going to hell. I've had people saying, ‘Good luck having any future after this’ and saying, ‘I know all the people who are reporting your account are happy to see your downfall, and know that it’s going to be a real rough time for you in your future because of your decision to post this,'" Staudt said on the show. 

Just days later, the trans athlete involved in the incident, identified as Andi Rooks, appeared on the same show alongside the athlete's father. 

Rooks would have sat out if Staudt's concerns had been known. 

"I've never had an issue until this game, and my goal was never to make anybody uncomfortable in any way, and I didn't even realize Frances had an issue until I got yelled at at the game," Rooks said. "If she had had a conversation with me before the game, I would have sat out. My last thing I want to do is make anybody uncomfortable."

Washington's high school athletes are currently allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. The WIAA policy states that each athlete will participate in programs "consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed," and there are not even any medical or legal requirements. Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced but not passed.

Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal spoke in defense of transgender athletes in girls sports in an address last week, claiming it was "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders. 

"It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls," Reykdal said. "There's a continuum. There's a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth.

"Our state laws make clear that children get to identify and participate based on the gender in which they identify. We're going to uphold that law."

Reykdal insisted that Trump does not have the authority as president to issue a ban on trans athletes in girls sports but conceded the U.S. Congress does. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a bill in Congress that would carry out similar requirements as Trump's order and has already passed in the House of Representatives. It has not gone to a vote in the Senate yet.  

"Until Congress changes the law or our state legislature changes the law, we're going to follow the current law and the current civil rights framework of this state, and that's what it tells us to do," Reykdal said. 

However, the issue became so concerning for residents, that in December the WIAA announced a proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in. 

That proposal came weeks after the Central Valley School Board, which oversees schools in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington, voted to send a message to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) over the issues after much debate at a school board meeting.

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As the national debate over trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports has reached a boiling point in recent weeks, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has been uncharacteristically quiet on the issue. Now, conservative influencer Riley Gaines has extended an invitation to the congresswomen to join the other side of the issue. 

"I absolutely believe that AOC, of course she has a platform, she's in a position of influence and power, and I believe she could influence the Democratic members to cross the line and return to sanity. I do believe there is an obligatory responsibility from every member of congress," Gaines told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. 

Gaines believes that if Ocasio-Cortez were to suddenly take a stand against trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports that it would be "performative" but that it would still benefit the congresswoman's political reputation. 

"While I don't agree with many other things outside of this issue that AOC stands for, I would certainly applaud her or any Democrat [for speaking out against trans inclusion]," Gaines said. 

"I don't believe AOC is out of contention for running for president in 2028, and if that's the case, [trans inclusion in women's sports] is certainly something she would want to distance herself from." 

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

Ocasio-Cortez last spoke out on the issue directly when the House of Representatives voted on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act on Jan. 14. That day, she gave an impassioned, controversial speech on the House floor, where she claimed that the bill would empower child sexual predators and that "trans girls are girls." 

The speech ignited immense backlash and mockery, including by Democrats, one of whom told Fox News Digital they and others were unregistering from the party in response. 

Since then, President Donald Trump has passed an executive order banning trans inclusion in women's and girls' sports nationally, and the NCAA has amended its gender eligibility to comply with the order. Meanwhile, multiple Democrat states have openly defied Trump, prompting federal investigations against those states and potentially cuts to funding in response. 

On Monday, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act will get a vote on the Senate floor. 

Ocasio-Cortez has not weighed in on the issue, despite being a notable advocate for trans inclusion in the past. She has only referenced a recent exchange between Trump and Maine Governor Janet Mills on the issue with a Bluesky post that says, "that's how it's done." However, she hasn't addressed Trump's order or the issue of trans inclusion as whole in detail. 

WOMEN ATHLETES PLEAD FOR SENATE DEMOCRATS TO HELP PASS PROTECTION OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IN SPORTS ACT

During a virtual town hall hosted by Ocasio-Cortez on Feb. 21, she did not address the issue despite Fox News Digital submitting a question on it. Ocasio-Cortez's office has not responded to multiple requests for comment on the issue by Fox News Digital over email. 

Ocasio-Cortez did mention the overall subject of Democrat support for the trans community during an interview on "The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart" podcast on Jan. 23. 

"When we allow ourselves to constantly be distracted by these culture wars around trans people, it's a new thing every day, and the answer isn't that we just let those people be attacked, it's that we say, ‘What are you doing, man?’ I think we need to make standing up for those folks just such an afterthought that it's not even a debate," Ocasio-Cortez said. 

"Like, we need to understand and see the bait for what it is, but we don’t take the bait by letting those rights just erode and go by the wayside."

But Gaines is not surprised by Ocasion-Cortez's, and other Democrats', sudden distance from the issue of trans inclusion in girls' sports.

"We shouldn't be surprised this is the position AOC is taking," Gaines said. "Number one, cancel culture is losing its grip, and number two, it means they're trying to distance themselves from their voting records or whatever that may be, because they know that this is a losing issue. And it shows they just have no conviction. From the inception, this issue has been a farce." 

RILEY GAINES REPEATEDLY TEARS INTO AOC FOR TAKING PRONOUNS OUT OF X BIO AFTER ADVOCATING FOR TRANS ATHLETES

Ocasio-Cortez has previously voted in favor of multiple bills that would enable trans athletes to play in women's and girls' sports nationwide, including the Equality Act and the Transgender Bill of Rights. The congresswomen previously suggested that the Green Party was "predatory" in an X post responding to 2024 Green Party VP nominee Butch Ware speaking out against trans inclusion in women's sports. 

Before that, Ocasio-Cortez even criticized former President Joe Biden, who made multiple efforts to enable trans inclusion, for not doing enough to enable it. 

In April 2023, when Biden proposed a Title IX change that would outlaw bans on trans athletes in girls' sports but would allow for bans on students "based on a set of sex-related criteria unique to their community," Ocasio-Cortez called it a "disgrace."

"Absolutely no reason for the Biden admin to do this. It is indefensible and embarrassing," she wrote on X that month. "The admin can still walk this back, and they should. It’s a disgrace." 

However, the issue of trans inclusion in women's and girls' sports has become a widely opposed issue over the last year, and data suggests  that it even affected the outcome of the 2024 election. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found that the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

"Thinking about transgender female athletes — meaning athletes who were male at birth but who currently identify as female — do you think they should or should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports?" the survey asked. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

A national exit poll conducted by the Concerned Women for America legislative action committee found that 70% of moderate voters saw the issue of "Donald Trump’s opposition to transgender boys and men playing girls' and women’s sports and of transgender boys and men using girls' and women’s bathrooms" as important to them. 

Additionally, 6% said it was the most important issue of all, while 44% said it was "very important."

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The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is set to get a vote in the U.S. Senate on Monday. The bill would establish a stronger federal precedent to keep trans athletes out of women's and girls' sports as multiple states defy President Donald Trump's recent executive order to address the issue. 

But despite a Republican majority in the Senate, the bill will still need support from seven Democrats in order to beat the filibuster and reach the president's desk. In the House of Representatives, all but two Democrats voted against the bill. 

For women athletes across the country who have been impacted by trans inclusion, they are holding out hope that more Democratic senators will break from the party's general stance. 

Former San Jose State University volleyball player Brooke Slusser, who was at the center of a widely-publicized national controversy in the fall after suing her school, conference and the NCAA citing her experience with a trans teammate, is asking those Democrats to consider the well-being of their daughters and other young female athletes across the country.

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"Do they have kids? Would they ever want their daughter having a man swinging a crazy ball straight at their face when they're a child? Maybe even unknowingly, and then they can never play sports again," Slusser told Fox News Digital of her message to those Democrats. "How can you think of that and still want to fight for something that could potentially injure and end a young athlete's career? And overall, that it's just not fair. I feel like I could go on and on to them about it. I just don't see how they could support it." 

Slusser's lawsuits allege she was made to share changing and sleeping spaces with trans teammate Blaire Fleming during their first season together in 2023. After months of speaking out against trans inclusion and garnering national media attention, Slusser recently made the decision to leave SJSU's campus after facing alleged threats and harassment from other students over her stance.

Still, she doesn't regret any of it due to her activism helping to inspire legislative changes, including potentially the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. 

Meanwhile, fellow women's athletes Payton McNabb and Selina Soule went to the White House on Thursday to meet with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondie and several other state attorneys general across the nation to share their stories and to lobby for the national banishment of trans athletes in girls' and women's sports. 

Soule is a former high school track and field athlete and four-time National Qualifier who was forced out of a regional championship due to two trans athletes taking women’s spots and who lost out on the chance to earn attention from college scouts and potential scholarships because of those snubs. It was a consequential turning point in her life that set her on the path to activism; she first started speaking out against trans inclusion to local media in 2018.

DEMOCRAT VOTERS ABANDON PARTY AFTER AOC, JEFFRIES SAY ANTI-TRANS ATHLETE BILL EMPOWERS SEXUAL PREDATORS

"I would tell all of those senators that are unsure about this bill to think about your daughters, think about your nieces and granddaughters. Would you want them to be forced into a situation where they have to compete against someone who is physically superior to them? Would you be okay with them sharing a bathroom, changing next to a man, sharing a bed with a man if they didn't want to?" Soule asked. 

"If you say no to any of that, then vote for this bill to protect women and girls."

McNabb, a former volleyball player who received a spike to the head from a transgender player when she was 17 that caused brain trauma and a neck injury, wants to remind the Democrats that most Americans, including the majority of their own voters, oppose trans inclusion in girls' and women's sports, according to various data. 

"The time is now to vote and to stand up for women and these basic rights that they deserve, because the majority of America agrees with this, and a lot of Democrats agree with this as well, but I don't understand why they won't vote on it, they try to push this agenda so hard," McNabb said. "Think about your daughters, think about every woman in your life, because this affects them and their vote matters, and they need to vote for them." 

McNabb and Soule hope that their conversations with the state attorneys general on Thursday will ultimately result in conversations between those attorneys general and Democratic senators in their states, and get the bill enough votes to make it to Trump's desk. 

Prominent Republican leader Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., does expect the bill to get some bipartisan support, she previously told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. 

"I would expect there would be, I would hope there would be," she said. 

"Many of my friends who are Democrats will tell you that they think Title IX is a thing and to have biological males competing against women is inappropriate, and they want opportunities for their daughters or nieces or granddaughters, and it's frustrating to them when they hear about or witness a transgender male playing in a women's or girls' league."

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.

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The Maine House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Laurel Libby Tuesday night for a recent social media post pointing out that a transgender high school athlete won a girls' competition. 

The Maine House's Democratic majority, led by Speaker Ryan Fecteau, passed the censure resolution Tuesday night in a 75-70 vote. Libby is now no longer allowed to speak on the house floor or vote until she issues an apology. 

Libby told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview after the vote that she does not plan to apologize for her recent post. 

After the censure had been determined, Fecteau told Libby that the House members would take a break while Libby considered her apology. 

"I told him, ‘We do not need to take ease’ as I was going to continue speaking up for Maine girls," Libby said. 

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Libby's post came last Sunday when she pointed out that a transgender track and field athlete had taken first place at a Maine girls' pole vault competition after competing as a boy just one year earlier. The premise of Libby's censure by the Maine House was focused on the fact that she posted a photo of a minor and provided that minor's name.

"It's a remarkable double standard as there are public photos of this individual in many places, on social media and even some posted by his school, and so yes, this post went viral, but this was an individual who participated in a public event, who publicly stood on a podium and accepted a championship medal that rightfully belonged to the girls standing on the second-place spot," Libby said. 

House Majority Leader Matt Moonen condemned Libby in a statement on the House floor. 

"She has irreparably broken the trust that has been placed in her as an elected official serving in this House of Representatives," Moonen said. "This institution and all of Maine deserve better."

House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham spoke out against the censure, pointing out that the state legislature’s ethics code does not mention online posts that members make.

During Tuesday's vote, Libby came to the house floor with a prepared seven-page speech on the importance of protecting girls' and women's sports from trans inclusion. However, throughout the night, her microphone was consistently turned off when she was trying to deliver that speech. 

"I was completely unable, from my first sentence, to get a word out, before the other side was shutting me down," Libby said, adding that she had never seen anything like that happen during her tenure in the Maine legislature. 

Libby later posted a video of her giving the speech on Facebook after the hearing. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Libby says that while she doesn't plan to apologize, she does have another course of action she plans on taking to regain her voting and speaking privileges, but did not disclose any details of that plan. 

Maine Republicans and Libby's constituents will now lose a vote and a voice for other issues in the state's legislative process amid a busy month. 

Libby recently proposed a bill to expand access to mental health resources for Maine residents, which she will now not be able to help push through. In the coming weeks, the Maine House will vote on the upcoming biannual budget, and Libby will not get to vote on that either. 

"It's look like I will not be able to speak on that or vote on that," she said. 

Libby's revelation of the trans athlete ignited national conversation and coverage of the state's policy on trans inclusion after Maine announced it would not comply with President Donald Trump's recent "No Men in Women's Sports" executive order. 

Trump then vowed to cut funding to the state for refusing to follow his order during a gathering of governors at the White House last Thursday. 

On Friday, Mills' office responded with a statement threatening legal action against the Trump administration if it did withhold federal funding from the state. Then, Trump and Mills verbally sparred in a widely-publicized argument at the White House during a bipartisan meeting of governors. 

Just hours after that interaction, the U.S. Department of Education announced it will be investigating the state for allowing trans athletes to compete in girls sports and potential Title IX violations. 

Police protection has since been assigned to the high school that is attended by the trans athlete who Libby identified in her Facebook post, amid concerns over safety. 

A recent New York Times/Ipsos survey found the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, don't think transgender athletes should be permitted to compete in women's sports. 

Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as women should not be allowed to participate in women's sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women. 

For Libby, she has her own hypothesis about why Democrat lawmakers in her state, and many across the country, are fighting so hard to protect trans inclusion in girls' sports, despite most Americans, and even most Democrats, being opposed to it. 

"I think Maine Democrats' stance is, they haven't gone hard enough, and they need to dig in," Libby said.

But she expects that Democrats fighting for their current stance, and censuring her Tuesday night, will backfire on them moving forward. 

"I think this was a tremendous misstep on the part of the Democrats, and they are completely misjudging this issue, and they do not understand how vigorously Maine people disagree with them on this policy, and they will at some point regret this action from tonight," she said. 

Libby added that she believes her Republican colleagues have her back as she fights the censure. 

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Washington state Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal spoke in defense of transgender athletes in girls sports in an address Thursday, claiming it was "inaccurate" to say there are only two genders. 

"It is quite simply inaccurate to say, biologically, that there are only boys and there are only girls," Reykdal said. "There's a continuum. There's a science to this. There are children who are born intersex. There are children whose hormones and whose chromosomes are not consistent with their sex at birth.

"That's not a debate we're going to have today. I just want to remind you of our civil rights obligations. Our state laws make clear that children get to identify and participate based on the gender in which they identify. We're going to uphold that law."

Reykdal served three terms as a Democratic member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 22nd district.

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While criticizing President Donald Trump's recent executive order that prohibits schools from allowing trans athletes to compete in girls sports, Reykdal cited a statistic of how many transgender athletes there are in his state. 

"Out of nearly a quarter million kids participating in interscholastic athletics and activities in the state of Washington, roughly five to 10 youth have identified themselves as trans participating in those activities," Reykdal said. "If we can't accommodate the needs of five or 10 people — whether there's privacy access for and a privacy opportunity for all students, that's what our laws and rules say — if we can't do that then who are we?"

Reykdal insisted Trump did not have the authority as president to issue a ban on trans athletes in girls sports but conceded the U.S. Congress does. The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act is a bill in Congress that would carry out similar requirements as Trump's order and has already passed in the House of Representatives. It hasn't gone to a vote in the Senate yet.  

"Until Congress changes the law or our state legislature changes the law, we're going to follow the current law and the current civil rights framework of this state, and that's what it tells us to do," Reykdal said. 

HOW TRANSGENDERISM IN SPORTS SHIFTED THE 2024 ELECTION AND IGNITED A NATIONAL COUNTERCULTURE

Washington's high school athletes are allowed to compete based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex. Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) policy states that each athlete will participate in programs "consistent with their gender identity or the gender most consistently expressed," and there are no medical or legal requirements. 

Bills that would prohibit transgender girls from participating in girls and women's sports have been introduced but not passed.

However, the issue became so concerning for residents, that in December the WIAA announced a proposal to create a separate open division for transgender athletes to compete in. 

"In order to maintain fair and equitable competition, participation in girls' sports and girls' divisions of sports is restricted to students who were assigned female at birth. The purpose of this policy is to offer clarity with respect to the participation of trans and gender-diverse student-athletes. Additionally, this policy encourages a culture in which student-athletes can compete in a safe and supportive environment, free of discrimination," the proposal said.

That proposal came weeks after the Central Valley School Board, which oversees schools in Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, Washington, voted to send a message to the WIAA over the issue after debate at a school board meeting.

The resolution, "Supporting Equity and Safety in Female Sports," claims the entire board is comprised of female members who have either competed in athletics themselves or have daughters who competed in athletics.

One of the women, an unidentified current cross-country runner, shared her experience during that hearing.

"When I ran cross-country for Greenacres Middle School, a boy who was biologically male but identified as female competed on the girls team," she said. "While I respect everyone's right to participate in sports, the situation made me question the fairness of competing (with) someone who had the physical advantage associated with male biology."

In May, a trans athlete competed in a girls cross-country championship and won. 

The athlete won the 400-meter heat race in the girls division with a time of 55.59 seconds. The second-place runner finished at 58.83 seconds. In the finals, the trans athlete won with a time of 55.75 seconds, a full second ahead of the second-place runner, who finished with 56.75.

This week, a civil rights complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of a teenage girl in Washington state who was allegedly punished for refusing to play a basketball game against a trans athlete. 

The complaint alleged that the Tumwater School District in Washington is investigating 15-year-old Frances Staudt for "misgendering" the opponent and violating the district's policies against bullying and harassment. 

According to the document, prior to a game, Staudt asked the school's principal and athletic director whether a player was a biological male. The administrators then allegedly confirmed they were notified the player was transgender but denied her pleas to have the player removed. Staudt removed herself from the game. 

President Trump's Department of Education has already launched Title IX investigations into the state high school athletic conferences in California, Minnesota and Maine for their refusal to comply with his executive order. 

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