Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and former ESPN host Sage Steele vowed on Thursday that they plan to keep the protection of women’s sports at the forefront, saying “women’s sports are going to survive.”
Tuberville joined Fox News’ “The Faulkner Focus” to discuss a roundtable discussion they had with concerned female athletes about protecting women’s sports. Tuberville’s legislation would prohibit biological males from competing in women’s sports in the U.S.
“We’ve got to get people together on the same page, we’ve got to get people to understand really what the Democrats and Joe Biden’s administration are trying to do,” said Tuberville, who was a college football head coach before entering politics. “Probably one or two percent of the people are very concerned about this.”
“This is an attack on the nuclear family, this is an attack on gender. This is an attack on women, and then this is an attack on sports. Title IX,” he continued.
Tuberville questioned where the women’s rights activists were on the issue.
“Where are the activists, the women activists that actually got Title IX implemented 52 years ago? They’re nowhere to be seen,” he said. “There’s nobody talking about this, but we’re going to bring this to the forefront.”
He said he would continue to bring bills to the floor on the subject.
“Women’s sports are going to survive,” he continued. “Because now we’ve gotten a multitude of new sports, softball is skyrocketing, volleyball is one of the most fun sports to watch, gymnastics, women’s gymnastics, oh my goodness, especially in college has really skyrocketed, so they’re going to have a tough time breaking this down.”
Steele warned there would be “blood on our hands” if people remained silent on the issue.
“At the end of the day, there is something specifically and intentionally being done to affect women’s sports and allow this to happen,” Steele said. “And it is obvious now, that if we stay silent, and unfortunately a majority of people have, and I hate to be dramatic here Harris, but there will be blood on our hands because this is happening quickly.”
Tuberville called for the quick passage of The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act after it passed the House in April 2023, but the bill ultimately failed.
“Title IX was just starting to be implemented when I took the job,” he said on the Senate floor at the time. “I was there to see its incredible impact it had on young girls all over this country. For the first time, the young women I coached had equal access to facilities, resources and competition.”
“I saw those hardworking athletes go on to earn college scholarships, start careers and become leaders in their own communities,” he said.
