Dick Durbin Bolted on Female Athletes Without Hearing a Single One and Katie Britt Unloaded

In June, the Supreme Court ruled that states can keep biological males off girls' sports teams.

Senate Republicans called a hearing so female athletes could finally tell Congress what they have been living through.

The top Democrat on the committee showed up, said his piece, and walked out before they spoke.

Nine Democrat Seats Sat Empty While Female Athletes Testified

The Senate Judiciary Committee gaveled in on September 23, 2026, for a hearing titled "Standing Up for Women in Sports: Ensuring Opportunity, Fairness and Safety for Female Athletes."

Chairman Chuck Grassley ran the room.

Not one of the committee's nine Democrats stayed to hear the testimony.

Ranking Member Dick Durbin read an opening statement and left before the witnesses were even sworn in.

In that statement, he called the hearing a "vendetta against a small number of people in the trans community."

Democrats did not bother to fill their two witness chairs, either.

"That says a lot," Grassley said of the empty seats.

"Women should not again be asked to cede their opportunities just to make men comfortable," he told the hearing.

He cut straight through the Democrat spin: "This hearing isn't about gender identity. It is about whether it is fair to women for biological men to compete against them in women's sports."

Then Katie Britt let them have it.

"It can't go unspoken that not one member on the other side of the aisle has had the respect for women to come in here and ask questions," the Alabama senator said.

"It's absolutely absurd!"

John Kennedy went after the Democrat talking point directly, rejecting the idea that "this campaign to have males compete against females in women's sports is not a problem in America."

The Women Democrats Refused to Hear

The witnesses Democrats skipped were not politicians.

Kim Jones co-founded the Independent Council on Women's Sports after watching her daughter Raime swim against Lia Thomas at Yale.

"Women and girls have sex-separated categories for fair and safe competition," Jones told the committee.

She wants sex verified with an SRY gene test, not a birth certificate that someone can simply amend.

Former professional soccer player Carly Smolak warned that "we are failing young female athletes," leaving girls to choose between playing co-ed or not playing at all.

Sports lawyer William Bock called for sex-based categories, mandatory sex testing and real legal accountability to back them up.

Durbin's excuse for leaving was a number.

He cited NCAA president Charlie Baker, who told him there are fewer than 10 known transgender athletes among roughly half a million college athletes.

Tell that to Payton McNabb.

In September 2022, the North Carolina high school volleyball player took a spike to the face from a male opponent.

She was left with a concussion, a neck injury and partial paralysis on her right side.

It only takes one.

Grassley pointed out that more than 3.6 million girls play high school sports, and every one of them deserves a fair and safe game.

Every Senate Democrat Already Voted No On Protecting Girls

This boycott did not come out of nowhere.

On March 3, 2025, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act came up in the Senate and fell short of the 60 votes it needed.

Not a single Democrat voted for it.

Durbin opposed it then, too, warning the bill would "give someone unspecified the right to physically inspect a girl or a young woman."

The female athletes at the September hearing were the ones asking for sex testing.

Florida Senator Ashley Moody reminded the hearing that Democrats have voted against protecting women's sports three separate times in this Congress.

President Trump signed his executive order keeping men out of women's sports in February 2025.

On June 30, 2026, the Supreme Court sided with the states in an opinion by Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

All nine justices agreed the Idaho and West Virginia laws do not violate federal civil rights law, and six upheld them against the constitutional challenge.

Kavanaugh wrote that "the States may maintain women's and girls' sports for biological females."

Pew Research found 66 percent of adults favor requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their sex at birth, and 73 percent are uncomfortable with the alternative.

The President is with the voters.

The Supreme Court is with the voters.

Senate Democrats could not even stay in their chairs long enough to hear what the girls had to say.

Durbin walked out on the women.

The women will remember that in November.

Sources:

• Virginia Grace McKinnon, otection," The Daily Signal, September 23, 2026."Democrats Skip Senate Hearing on Women's Sports Pr
• Debra Heine, "'Absolutely Absurd!': Senate Dems Boycott Hearing Titled 'Standing Up for Women in Sports,'" American Greatness, September 23, 2026.
• Senate Judiciary Committee, "Grassley Opens Senate Judiciary Hearing on Ensuring Safety and Fairness for Female Athletes," Senate Judiciary Committee, September 23, 2026.
• Bob Hoge, "Democrats Show Once Again How Little They Care About Actual Women, Ghost Sports Safety Hearing," RedState, September 23, 2026.
• Jackson Thompson, "Mother of Lia Thomas opponent reveals emotional toll that drove her to raise funds for women's sports lawsuits," Fox News, July 10, 2025.
• Jamie Joseph, "Female athlete injured by transgender player slams Dem lawmakers who dismissed dangers," Fox News, March 22, 2024.
• Ryan Gaydos, "Bill to prevent males from women's sports receives no support from Senate Dems: Who were they?" Fox News, March 4, 2025.
• SCOTUSblog Staff, "Court rules that states can exclude transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports teams," SCOTUSblog, June 30, 2026.