Braun vs. MGP: Biological Males in Girls Sports Debate

Reporter Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Senator Braun, do you support banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls' and women's sports? If so, how should a policy account for age, competitive level, and privacy?" Braun: "Yes.

I think it takes decidedly on the wrong track to allow biological males to compete in girls' or women's sports.

I raised three daughters who were actively involved in athletics in high school and in college.

This is an important part of their lives.

This is about fairness and safety, about biology.

We have Title IX for a reason.

For decades, we fought for a fair playing field for women.

Now, for reasons I can't fully explain in 2026, we want to undo all of that.

I think it's wrongheaded, I think it's unfair, I think it's unsafe, and I think it's the wrong path for our state and our country." Gluesenkamp Perez: "I'm libertarian on this issue.

I think that these decisions are best made by local stakeholders.

Fundamentally, I agree it's not fair for boys to compete in girls' sports.

But let's be real about what this would look like, though, in practice.

People change their birth certificates in Washington state.

It's not fair to make girls certify their sex to the state just to play softball.

With the change in birth certificates, I think it's a very slippery slope to genital exams, to state DNA banks, solutions that I don't think make students safer." Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Do you believe there is a problem that needs to be solved? And what is the message to transgender students affected by any changes?" Gluesenkamp Perez: "This is very, very rare.

This is not a common issue.

What we do hear about, although it's painful for survivors to talk about, is sex abuse.

Think about Larry Nassar or these other gymnastics people who have abused student athletes.

We need to be cognizant of that as we pursue a solution to fairness in sports." Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Senator Braun, what problem does it solve, and what is the message to transgender students affected by it?" Braun: "This is about fairness.

This is about safety.

It's simply a biological fact that biological males are different from biological females, and we should have a level playing field.

We need to be thoughtful about transgender students, but this doesn't prevent them from playing sports.

It just means they have to play sports by their biological sex.

The idea that it can't be done is just wrong, and it's a big deal.

Just in the last week and a half, two young women in Camas stepped away from a cross country meet because they had a biological male, who by the way, competed as a biological male for three out of four years in high school, then shifted to compete on the girls' team.

Reporter Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Senator Braun, do you support banning transgender girls and women from participating in girls' and women's sports? If so, how should a policy account for age, competitive level, and privacy?" Braun: "Yes.

I think it takes decidedly on the wrong track to allow biological males to compete in girls' or women's sports.

I raised three daughters who were actively involved in athletics in high school and in college.

This is an important part of their lives.

This is about fairness and safety, about biology.

We have Title IX for a reason.

For decades, we fought for a fair playing field for women.

Now, for reasons I can't fully explain in 2026, we want to undo all of that.

I think it's wrongheaded, I think it's unfair, I think it's unsafe, and I think it's the wrong path for our state and our country." Gluesenkamp Perez: "I'm libertarian on this issue.

I think that these decisions are best made by local stakeholders.

Fundamentally, I agree it's not fair for boys to compete in girls' sports.

But let's be real about what this would look like, though, in practice.

People change their birth certificates in Washington state.

It's not fair to make girls certify their sex to the state just to play softball.

With the change in birth certificates, I think it's a very slippery slope to genital exams, to state DNA banks, solutions that I don't think make students safer." Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Do you believe there is a problem that needs to be solved? And what is the message to transgender students affected by any changes?" Gluesenkamp Perez: "This is very, very rare.

This is not a common issue.

What we do hear about, although it's painful for survivors to talk about, is sex abuse.

Think about Larry Nassar or these other gymnastics people who have abused student athletes.

We need to be cognizant of that as we pursue a solution to fairness in sports." Wright Gazaway, KATU: "Senator Braun, what problem does it solve, and what is the message to transgender students affected by it?" Braun: "This is about fairness.

This is about safety.

It's simply a biological fact that biological males are different from biological females, and we should have a level playing field.

We need to be thoughtful about transgender students, but this doesn't prevent them from playing sports.

It just means they have to play sports by their biological sex.

The idea that it can't be done is just wrong, and it's a big deal.

Just in the last week and a half, two young women in Camas stepped away from a cross country meet because they had a biological male, who by the way, competed as a biological male for three out of four years in high school, then shifted to compete on the girls' team.