House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said Thursday that biological males competing against females is an issue "that doesn't really exist," even as several sports organizations have moved to ban transgender athletes in women's sports.
"MAGA Republicans are trying to sensationalize an issue that doesn't really exist in the way that they are falsely portraying," Jeffries told reporters after the House passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
House Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries says biological males competing on female sports teams is "an issue that doesn't really exist" pic.twitter.com/9cQrnOwocv
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) April 20, 2023
The Republican bill, which would require biological females only compete against each other in women’s sports that receive federal funds, passed the House along party lines but is expected to die in the Democrat-controlled Senate. The White House warned President Joe Biden would veto it should it reach his desk.
Jeffries's dismissal of the issue comes as sports bodies in recent years have banned biological males from participating in women's sports in the name of preserving the sport's fairness and integrity. Last month, the World Athletics Council, which oversees international track and field, imposed a sweeping ban on transgender athletes in women's events. Last year, the International Rugby League, the International Swimming Federation, and British Cycling passed similar bans.
Transgender athletes became a focus of national attention last year when biological male Lia Thomas won an NCAA women's swimming championship event after switching from the University of Pennsylvania's men's team to its women's team. Thomas moved from a 65th-place national ranking as a man to first place as a woman, breaking Ivy League records along the way.
Jeffries is also under fire for failing to denounce anti-Semitic views held by his uncle, whom Jeffries once defended in a college op-ed unearthed this month. He said Thursday that he does not "share any of the controversial views that were expressed by my uncle more than three decades ago."
The 1992 op-ed included defenses of his uncle, who alleged "rich jews" ran the slave trade, and Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, an infamous anti-Semite who defended Adolf Hitler and assailed the "stranglehold that Jews have on this government."
Jeffries also wrote that black conservatives are comparable to "House Negroes" during American slavery, calling them "tokens" and "opportunists."