President Joe Biden did not believe males who think they are females should be allowed in women's sports, a new report has alleged regarding the 46th president's administration.
While the entirety of the Biden administration wholly agreed that males should be able to enter female spaces based on their gender identity in some capacity, the idea of letting males play in women's sports was not something every member of the Biden administration was fond of.
'The president was particularly focused on the competition issue.'
The New York Times published a lengthy piece centered around Blaire Fleming, a male volleyball player who turned the world of NCAA women's volleyball on its head with his refusal to step out of his role on a women's team. While the article spoke of Fleming favorably, it revealed through interviews with former Biden staffers that it caused a split in the administration between two factions: one that wanted men in women's sports and another that was only comfortable with men in women's bathrooms. President Biden was apparently a part of the latter.
"The president was particularly focused on the competition issue," an anonymous former Biden administration official told the New York Times.
Biden and his compatriots reportedly saw sports as having a zero-sum nature, which made them different from bathrooms, and recognized males have physical advantages over women. While the idea was still only that just some males have an advantage, it was enough to vastly differ from the other camp in the administration.
The compromise between the two sides was allegedly to have the Department of Education propose a new rule that schools would have the ability to "limit or deny" the participation of transgender athletes if it could be proven that they had an unfair advantage or risked player safety. The schools would not be allowed to have outright bans on males in female sports, however.
At the same time, though, Biden's Title IX rewrite would have made it virtually impossible to prevent a male athlete from entering women's sports if it were his right to be included in women's "services" because of his "gender identity."
The Supreme Court rejected the rewrite with a vote of 5-4, however; Justice Neil Gorsuch was the lone conservative who voted in favor of the changes.
Within the Biden administration, Susan Rice, director of the White House's Domestic Policy Council, and Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department's assistant secretary for civil rights, were both in favor of the changes and allegedly saw no legal difference between allowing men in women's bathrooms and men playing on women's sports teams.
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The Department of Education announced its consequences for Maine after the state failed to meet its deadline for Title IX compliance on Friday.
With a "final warning" letter to Maine in early April, the ED has followed through with its April 11 deadline and will now seek enforcement by handing over its Title IX investigation of the Maine Department of Education to the Department of Justice
The federal government announced in a press release that it would proceed with the termination of Maine's federal K-12 education funding, "including formula and discretionary grants."
'... choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students' safety.'
The University of Maine System had already said it would comply with the new federal standards due to the risk of losing millions in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. However, the state as a whole has rejected the implementation of President Trump's executive order to keep men out of women's sports and locker rooms.
"The Department [of Education] has given Maine every opportunity to come into compliance with Title IX, but the state's leaders have stubbornly refused to do so, choosing instead to prioritize an extremist ideological agenda over their students' safety, privacy, and dignity,” said Craig Trainor, the department's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.
Trainor said that Maine will now have to defend its discriminatory practices in front of a judge from both the ED and the DOJ.
"Governor [Janet] Mills would have done well to adhere to the wisdom embedded in the old idiom—be careful what you wish for. Now she will see the Trump Administration in court," Trainor added.
The attorney general of Maine filed a lawsuit against the ED last week and claimed there were violations in the department's process to cut funding.
"Under the banner of keeping children safe, the Trump Administration is illegally withholding grant funds that go to keeping children fed," said Aaron Frey, Maine's attorney general. "This is just another example where no law or consequence appears to restrain the administration as it seeks capitulation to its lawlessness."
The state accused the federal department of not conducting an investigation of its own, not notifying the state, and not reporting its findings to Congress.
Maine also claimed that it had "no way to get funds" to schools and other facilities to feed children.
Maine has, in recent history, supported male athletes in female sports. This has resulted in instances of a male athlete taking first place in a girls' pole vault competition and taking a podium spot in girls' high school Nordic skiing at the state championships.
The Maine Principals' Association backed both outcomes and said it would not follow the president's executive order.
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An Australian woman who advocates for women's sports to remain female-only is facing two legal criminal accusations of "misgendering."
Kirralie Smith, an activist, has had two Apprehended Violence Orders filed against her by two male athletes posing as females and was accused in court of "deliberately misgendering."
Dennis was then listed as a 6'2" athlete who broke the leg of a girl who is 5'6."
While an AVO in Australia is typically reserved for domestic violence, it can be filed by any person who feels they are a victim of "physical assault, threats of physical harm, stalking, intimidation or harassment" and believes the threats will continue, according to New South Wales Police.
One of the claims came from a soccer player named Riley Dennis; Blaze News reported in 2024 that this individual was accused of injuring a female soccer player and sending her to the hospital. Dennis plays for the Flying Bats, a football club for "self-identified women and non-binary people."
Dennis was then listed as a 6'2" athlete who broke the leg of a girl who is 5'6" and spawned two dozen other females to quit because they did not want to play against the transgender-filled team. Yahoo Sports reported that the injured girl's leg was broken in two different places.
Activist Sall Grover was reportedly present during Smith's court proceeding on Monday and claimed a barrister asked Smith if she would call Dennis "she/her," to which the defendant said "no."
Smith was also allegedly asked if not using the pronouns is "mean," to which she replied that it would be mean to expect her to lie.
"Is it because she doesn't like trans people?" Grover wrote about the court proceeding. "No. It's a fact based statement," Smith reportedly answered.
Kirralie is on the stand for cross-examination.
Barrister asked she would call Dennis she/her. She said No.
She is asked if that’s mean. Says it’s mean to expect her to lie.
Is it because she doesn’t like trans people? Say, no. It’s a fact based statement.
You think they are…
— Sall Grover (@salltweets) April 14, 2025
Sky News Australia described the court proceeding as having "dramatic scenes" and said the "entire case" centers around "a couple of tweets Kirralie Smith posted back in 2023."
This was the second time Smith appeared in court for an AVO, however. Reduxx reported that Smith was accused by another male player, who goes by Stephanie Blanch, of holding unacceptable views. Blanch reportedly told a court he felt "threatened" by the idea that Smith did not think men should be in women's sports.
Blanch's supporting documentation included an X post by Smith about "a bloke on the women’s team in Wingham," the team on which Blanch plays.
In December, an Australian court acknowledged that Smith "repeatedly referred to" Blanch as a "male, a man, a bloke" and "he." A local judge declared that Smith indeed was "deliberately misgendering" Blanch, which was "stirring up controversy."
Blanch was awarded what essentially amounted to a restraining order against Smith, which required Smith to refrain from contacting Blanch as well as not "nam[ing] or identify[ing] the Appellant by her name Stephanie Blanch or by [name redacted]."
The order ends in December 2026.
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A leftist mayor has opted to defy a new law in her deep-red state by flying a flag that represents the woke racial and sexual agenda.
Less than two weeks ago, Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little signed into law H.B. 96, which strictly regulates the flags that counties, municipalities, and other governmental entities may fly on public property. Introduced by state Rep. Heather Scott (R-Blanchard), the bill basically restricts public flags to those representing the U.S. and its military, the state of Idaho, local cities, schools, and Indian tribes.
Scott indicated the purpose behind the law was to keep flag-flying from becoming too "political."
"I believe this bill is necessary for government to be neutral and unified and that government buildings should represent all Idahoans and not be used for political movements or social movements," she said, according to KIVI-TV.
The law took effect immediately. However, Lauren McLean, the radical mayor of Boise, does not seem to care.
According to reports from over the weekend, Boise City Hall still flies a flag known as the "Progressive Pride" flag, depicting the rainbow associated with non-heterosexual identities, the colors affiliated with so-called transgenderism, and black and brown stripes that pay fealty to non-white skin colors.
The Idaho Dispatch reported that the flag was momentarily removed, but the mayor's administration raised it again.
McLean indicated in a statement that the sex- and race-based flag represents the inclusiveness of the Boise community. "We will continue flying it because we are a safe and welcoming city that values all comers," she said.
'I never looked at her as a law breaker, but I guess she is.'
McLean also claimed in her statement that flying the Pride flag has been a Boise tradition that dates back almost a decade. "For nearly ten years the city has been flying the Pride flag," she said.
However, keen observers at BoiseDev noticed that the flag that flies over the city currently appears in better condition than the one that flew as recently as February. The colors on the current flag "now appear more vibrant, and a small hole in the flag is no longer present," the outlet reported.
The city did not respond to questions from BoiseDev about whether a new flag had been used.
BoiseDev also noted that McLean and other city leaders quickly abided by another state law, S.B. 1141, that prohibits sleeping in outdoor public places or inside cars, even while they continue to ignore H.B. 96.
The difference may be that S.B. 1141 imposes penalties for noncompliance. Cities that fail to enforce S.B. 1141 can be hit with a $10,000 fine imposed by the state attorney general. Even McLean admitted that she would work with the police department to enforce S.B. 1141 "because we must."
H.B. 96 has no such enforcement mechanism. Still, Scott is shocked by McLean's defiance.
"I just assumed [McLean] would follow the law," Scott told BoiseDev. "It’s interesting that she’s not going to follow the law. I never looked at her as a law breaker, but I guess she is."
In a conversation with KIVI, state Rep. Monica Church, a Democrat who represents a district that includes Boise City Hall, seemed to relish the fact that there is no way to enforce H.B. 96 at the moment. She also views H.B. 96 as "an opportunity for political grandstanding," the outlet added.
Gov. Little and Attorney General Raul Labrador did not respond to a request for comment from the Idaho Dispatch.
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Chaos erupted as several women protested the inclusion of a male athlete in a female fencing tournament over the weekend.
The male athlete in question is Annika Rose Suchoski, who made headlines in 2024 after coming in second in a women's fencing tournament despite only being in the sport for six months, the Daily Mail reported.
Suchoski reportedly towered over his competition at the Fortune Fencing Regional Championships last year, and therefore it came as no surprise that activists in California were ready to call out the six-foot athlete. Online posts ahead of the Women's Epee Foil noted that Suchoski was set to take part in the 40-49 women's division; Suchoski is reportedly 40 years old.
'[It] has nothing to do with the biological reality of sex.'
A video from the event at the Los Angeles Convention Center showed at least one woman was incredibly vocal about the ordeal but was quickly met with an onslaught of justification from staff members. A male staff member explained to the woman, "According to the rules of USA Fencing, this athlete is perfectly within the line, they are perfectly, legally here, within the rules of USA Fencing."
The woman then asked, "But why don't you oppose that as a man, standing up for women?"
"There's nothing to oppose, there's nothing wrong —" the man replied, before the woman began yelling.
"There's a man. ... There's a man fencing as a woman!"
"There is not," another man stated as he came into frame. "Please stop," the man said, but the woman continued to yell.
"He's a man!" she repeated.
"That is incorrect, ma'am," the second man insisted.
In a subsequent video, a female staff member said the policy in place was not meant to reflect biology, but rather operates under the "societal concept of gender."
"[It] has nothing to do with the biological reality of sex," she noted.
The staffer soon became enraged and encroached on the protester and asked if she wanted to "grab a handful" of her genitals in order to prove her sex or gender.
Other men, including one who claimed to be the female staffer's husband, attempted to intimidate the protester, while another remarked, "It's a shame you have so much shame in your heart."
Several men labeled the protester as unattractive and said she was disrupting or harming other athletes in the tournament.
Simultaneously, attendees and even competitors at the event attempted to block out a woman's sign that read, "Rosa sat, women stand[.] No men in women's sports."
Recently, a female fencer staged a protest when she refused to compete against a man at a women's tournament in Maryland. This inspired Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who sent a letter to USA Fencing, the governing body of the sport in the United States. Cruz asked how many fencing matches women have had against men under USA Fencing's governance and if any injuries had occurred in those matches.
Cruz noted that in order to retain its recognition as a national governing body, USA Fencing would have to comply with Olympic and federal standards, which included President Trump's executive order that requires women's competitions to be female-only.
USA Fencing told Blaze News its policy from 2023 justified the inclusion of male athletes in the women's category.
"The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces," said Nicole Kirk, USA Fencing's communications coordinator. "The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day."
The organization will always "err on the side of inclusion," the spokeswoman added.
USA Fencing did not respond to an additional query regarding whether or not the organization would be changing its policy to reflect President Trump's executive order.
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Taylor Starling is a 16-year-old high school runner who attends Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California. Despite her rigorous training and dedication, last October, Starling lost her spot on the varsity cross-country team to a transgender athlete — a biological male posing as a female.
While Starling eventually regained her spot on the team by outperforming her male competitor, the controversy is still burning strong.
Shortly following her displacement, Starling, alongside another teammate, filed a federal lawsuit against the Riverside Unified School District in November 2024, alleging violations of Title IX.
The scandal escalated when Starling and another teammate wore "Save Girls’ Sports” T-shirts to practice, which reportedly resulted in school officials comparing the slogan to swastikas and claiming the girls created a hostile environment. Apparently the athletic director even required that they remove their shirts or face discipline.
Last month, Starling spoke at the California State Assembly in support of bills that ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports. The Democratic majority rejected them. However, there’s still hope for Starling to win her lawsuit, which has a court date of May 15, 2025.
Pat Gray plays a clip of Starling’s speech to the California State Assembly.
“My name is Taylor Starling. I'm 16 years old, and I attend Martin Luther King High School. I have a 4.0 GPA, serve as vice president of my junior class, volunteer with National Women's Charity League, and lead as captain of my school's cross-country and track and field teams,” she began. “I was removed from my varsity girls' team and replaced by a newly eligible male transfer student who received favorable treatment.”
Starling went on to describe the time and dedication she put into training for a varsity position — including “[working] every day during the summer” and “waking up at 5:00 a.m. to attend morning practices and staying at school until 4:45 each day.”
Starling also described the double standards she witnessed — “He did not have to attend practice while my team and I were running seven miles a day together.”
“Our athletic director made me remove my [Save Girls’ Sports] shirt and told me it was like wearing a swastika in front of a Jewish person and said that I would face disciplinary action if I wore it again,” she continued. “My Title IX and free speech rights as a female matter too. Why are girls being told that we must sit down and be quiet while boys unfairly get ahead of us in life?”
“Wow, good stuff,” says Pat.
To hear more of the panel’s commentary as well as more wild transgender stories, watch the clip above.
To enjoy more of Pat's biting analysis and signature wit as he restores common sense to a senseless world, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
USA Fencing has responded to criticisms about allowing men in women's competitions by saying it wanted to create safe and inclusive spaces for "everyone" to participate in.
A male fencer named Redmond Sullivan recently competed in a women's tournament at the University of Maryland, which triggered a protest and forfeit from female fencer Stephanie Turner.
Turner was given a black card by an official and was subsequently kicked out of the tournament for her refusal to compete against what was deemed an "eligible opponent."
The male fencer was soon exposed for already having won two gold medals in just six events against women, versus a personal-best third place against men over the course of 2021-2023.
The news sparked a letter of demand from Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who asked the sport's governing body, USA Fencing, to answer inquiries related to how many matches women had been forced to take against men. As well, the letter asked if any injuries had occurred in those matches.
'The policy ... was based upon the research available of the day.'
Now, USA Fencing has responded to Blaze News and rationalized its pro-transgender policy by referring to changes that were made in 2023.
"The policy was designed to expand access to the sport of fencing and create inclusive, safe spaces," Nicole Kirk, USA Fencing's communications coordinator, told Blaze News. "The policy is based on the principle that everyone should have the ability to participate in sports and was based upon the research available of the day."
The spokeswoman added that while USA Fencing understands that "the conversation on equity and inclusion pertaining to transgender participation in sport is evolving," the organization will always "err on the side of inclusion."
"We're committed to amending the policy as more relevant evidence-based research emerges, or as policy changes take effect in the wider Olympic & Paralympic movement," Kirk added. She also noted that it remains important for the fencing community to engage in dialogue of this nature.
Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated on Friday that she found it "just not fair" for women to be put in such circumstances. At the same time, McMahon told Fox News' Harris Faulkner that the ED had started a special Title IX investigations team to look into possible violations of President Trump's executive order that requires women's competitions to be women-only.
McMahon said the president had made it "crystal clear that he is not going to tolerate men being able to compete in women's sports."
The secretary added that her team will be investigating the claims and taking action against violators.
USA Fencing did not respond to an additional query regarding whether or not the organization would be changing its policy to reflect President Trump's executive order, nor did it reveal if officials had responded to Senator Cruz's letter.
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Men who believe they are women will be allowed to compete in women's soccer in England, the sport's governing body has decided.
The English Football Association updated its transgender sports policy and noted that men will be able to play against women after "match observation" has taken place to determine if a player "presents a risk" to the safety of others, BBC reported.
The FA will now have "ultimate discretion" over eligibility and ultimately will evaluate each male player on a "case-by-case basis," as opposed to a universal rule for or against men playing against women. However, the FA is still implementing requirements based on testosterone levels.
A prospective male player who wishes to be considered female will need to have been below a prescribed level of hormones for at least 12 months and provide a medical record of hormone therapy. He will also need to have an annual review of his treatment(s).
'What constitutes a woman?'
At the same time, an FA official will have the option to remove or refuse a player's permission to play against women during the observation period.
English journalist Lewis Brackpool, whose local team is Crawley Town F.C., told Blaze News the FA's logic crumbles under simple scrutiny.
"The entire 'trans question' begins to unravel under these basic, fundamental challenges: What constitutes a woman? Is it the presence of estrogen? Is it a feeling? Or is it something deeper — like bone structure, reproductive biology, and DNA?" the reporter asked.
The FA has reportedly revealed that there are 20 males playing in women's soccer at the amateur level in England, but none play in any of the professional leagues.
Policy surrounding men who believe they are women was introduced by the FA in 2015, but in 2023 the organization was faced with pressure from 48 members of Parliament who wanted to protect women's soccer. A letter from the government was reportedly sparked by a series of teams withdrawing from recreational games after a transgender player injured a female with a shot.
Brackpool told Blaze News that debates over the issue have intensified in the U.K., especially with recent reports of men competing in women's sports. Brackpool pointed specifically to a recent English women's billiard tournament where two men competed in the final.
Brackpool added, "If anyone can simply become a woman, then being a woman loses all meaning. And the same goes in reverse."
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A female athlete said she was replaced on the girls' track and field team by a male who was not held to the same standard as the young women.
Taylor Starling from the Martin Luther King High School in California made headlines in November 2024 when she revealed her athletic director claimed her pro-women T-shirt was akin to wearing a swastika around a Jewish student. The shirt said "Save Girls' Sports" on the front and "It's Common Sense. XX ≠ XY" on the back.
Starling spoke at a California State Assembly meeting recently and told state legislators that she was "replaced" on the female team by a male transfer student, who did not have to attend practice.
"I was removed from my varsity girls' team and replaced by a newly eligible male transfer student who received favorable treatment," the 16-year-old claimed.
"In late October, the male transfer student was given my spot after not being held to the same strict team requirements as me and the rest of the girls," Starling continued. "He did not have to attend practice while my team and I were running seven miles a day together. After having my spot taken away from me that I earned, I missed out on running with my varsity team in one of the top cross country invitationals of the season."
The teen, recalling being told she was wearing Nazi-like attire, then stated plainly obvious facts that it is "not hateful or unkind" to say that "boys and girls are different."
Starling has a lawsuit against her school district and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who will see court on May 15. However, a Democrat majority at the state capitol recently declined two bills that support the removal of males from female athletics.
Starling, along with her father, Ryan, spoke to Fox News about the fight she and a classmate are taking on.
"I asked Taylor and Kaitlyn, 'Are you prepared to deal with this? Are you going to be able to walk through the hallways in her school and [have people] dislike you, call you names, and call you out?’ And they were," the father stated.
The female athlete went on to tell the outlet that the requirements were changed for the male competitor because he is "transgender," while her sacrifice and dedication did not seem to matter to administrators.
'I don't find that as a safe environment.'
During a board meeting for the Riverside Unified School District in November, a third student spoke about her issues with school administrators in relation to males being treated as females.
"These girls feel silenced. They felt silenced. And when they finally spoke out and did something to go against it and speak out, not directed towards a single person at all, they were completely stabbed in the back by the person that we were told would support us and be able to help us through this," the unnamed girl said.
After citing that she felt the two other girls were among the nicest people she had "ever met," the fellow 16-year-old revealed that she does not feel she is in a safe environment at school.
"It is not OK that I have to be in a position where I'm going to practice and having to see a male in booty shorts and having to see that around me. As a 16-year-old girl, I don't find that as a safe environment. I don't at all."
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'I guess I’m surprised, given that this is ... the hill we’re going to die on in terms of not respecting religious liberty,' Kavanaugh said, telling the county attorney it was a 'tough case to argue.'
thefederalist.com
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