Dream Team: Who's Who defending women sports
These women athletes dare to speak out
A new Dream Team of women assembled on the 50th anniversary of Title IX to protect girls’ and women’s sports for female athletes. Here is a Who’s Who to these trailblazers — along with other voices seeking to keep female sports female.
I am honored to support these women athletes and advocates.
Sponsors: @IWF @IWV @IWN @Heritage @WDI_USA @WomensLibFront @SaveWomensSport @CWforA @FRCdc @YWforA @family_policy @ADFLegal @ArmyOfParents @NeWNetwork @TPAction_
Speakers: @carrielukas @J_Braceras @KDansky @RileyGaines @PYNance @meg_kilgannon @fastover40 @BarbEhardt @macypetty0416 @CEJacksonLaw @ithompsonfdn @tmsilverman @SmithMarshi @BethStelzer @ChristianaADF @NicoleHudgens17 @Annabelle_Rut @MaudMaron @TulsiGabbard @AsraNomani
Riley Gaines Barker @RileyGaines — College swimmer
— Former University of Kentucky swimmer. 12-time All-American.Competed against Lia Thomas.
Taylor Silverman — Amateur skateboarder
SONG: Best Day Of My Life, American Authors
Madisan Debos — College runner
— Southern Utah University cross-country and track athlete had to compete against a male athlete; she began running at age five.
In June 2022, Madisan spoke out, saying in an interview in the Times-Reporter, “I’m a female collegiate athlete fighting for the future of women’s sports.”
The former Tusky Valley High School track and field and current Southern Utah University track and field standout recently spoke out against transgender competition in women's sports.
After nearly two decades of success in cross country and track, DeBos found herself in 2020 competing against a transgender athlete who had already smashed records set by some of the fastest women in the sport.
"What I signed up for was running against similarly advantaged competitors — other women," DeBos wrote in a Fox News op-ed piece. "What I have experienced, and seen repeated across the nation, is a different story, and it’s why I’m speaking out."
I'm a female collegiate athlete fighting for the future of women's sports
The opinion-editorial piece was amplified by Fox News Channel as DeBos appeared on America's Newsroom last week with Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino.
"It was a crazy 48 hours," said DeBos. "It all happened very, very quickly."
Cynthia Monteleone — Runner and coach
— Team USA World Champion Track Athlete
She competed in the 2018 World Masters Athletics Championships in Málaga, Spain, in the 400 meter race for Team USA. A biological male was in her race.
A year later, her high school daughter ran her first race against a biological male. Her daughter placed second to the biological male athlete.
Cynthia says males are bigger, faster, stronger. Also, the issue isn’t a straw man. If it happened to both her and her daughter, its happening everywhere.
SONG: Kenny Chesney, Coach
Idaho State Rep. Barbara Ehardt
— Idaho State Representative. Original Sponsor, Fairness in Women's Sports Act. Former Idaho state athlete. 15-year NCAA Division I women's basketball coach.
SONG: Meredith Brooks, Bitch
Chelsea Mitchell — Runner
— Top high school runner who lost four state championships, two all-New England awards, and additional other honors to biologically male competitors.
She never thought she’d be an activist. She didn’t ask for this, but she can’t stay silent. She was the fastest girl in the state, and she lost to a biological male. Her mother, Christy Mitchell, supported her. She believes in the importance of encouraging daughters to speak out.
Selina Soule — Runner
— Connecticut track athlete who lost out on placements and opportunities to advance because she had to compete against male athletes. She believes female athletes need to stand up and fight this.
In 2019, Selina posted a video about what it was like to compete against biological males. “It has been all over” for girl athletes, she said.
SONG: Eye of the Tiger
Alanna Smith — Runner
— Connecticut track athlete who lost to male athletes in high school
She says it is not discrimination to stand up for single-sex sports. Sports have all sorts of eligibility rules, such as residence and age. Sex is no different. Her mother, Cheryl Radachowsky, supports her.
She says her daughter’s experience is not unique. This is happening everywhere and in every sport. Must be stopped.
SONG: Shake It Up
Mary Marshall — Runner
— Idaho State NCAA athlete who competed against a biologically male athlete in college track. She is standing up to defend Idaho's Fairness in Women's Sports Act
In her experience, competing against a biological male resulted in a serious unfairness of the competition.
SONG: Tom Petty, Running Down a Dream
Madison Kenyon — Runner
— Idaho State NCAA athlete who competed against male athlete in college track. Stood up to defend Idaho's Fairness in Women's Sports Act.
SONG: Rachel Platten, Fight Song
12:19 PM - Speaker 18
Lainey Armistead — Soccer player
— West Virginia State University soccer player. She stood up to protect her state’s Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
To Tulsi, her bill — the Protect Women’s Sports Act — is is a “feminist issue that should be supported by anyone of either party who wants to increase opportunities for women and girls.”
Beth Stelzer — Founder, Save Women's Sports
On CNN, Beth, a mother and amateur athlete, said that she was a woman. An audience member said: “If he has a wink, he can’t be a woman.
Inga Thompson — Cyclist
She is a three-time Olympic cyclist. Competed when there were no women's teams. She says women’s sports exist for a reason, to give women equal athletic opportunities. Before Title IX, few athletic opportunities for girls, and there is much progress now that is now threatened.
Lauren Levey — Women's + lesbian rights activist
@LaurenLevey
She is vice president of the Women's Declaration International USA Chapter. She remembers it was not a pretty picture to play high school basketball 10 years before Title IX was enacted. She believes in the rightness of Title IX and says the inclusion of males undoes advances.
Describing herself as a “Democrat, radical feminist, lesbian,” veteran lesbian rights’ activist Lauren Levey said to cheers, “I’m telling you. We are not going back to a presumption that only male athletes count.”
Blocks from the White House, she continued: “That is just the current excuse for the timeless sexist practice of humiliating us and for effectively excluding us again from competitive sports. I’m telling you that injustice and that insult will not stand.”
Chloe Satterfield — Tennis player
— Freshman at Georgia Tech who competed against a freshman male tennis athlete her senior year in high school and lost.
Macy Petty — Volleyball player
— NCAA Volleyball Athlete, Division II volleyball player at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, in high school faced a male player on a women’s squad, dominated the game
She is a leader with Young Women for America. She believes women’s bodies are different than men’s bodies, with no amount of surgery or hormones being able to change that.
Kim Jones — Tennis player
Former All-American tennis player and mother of Ivy League Swimmer. Co-founder, Independent Council of Women's Sports @icons_women. She opposes the silencing and gaslighting of girls.
Marshi Smith @SmithMarshi — Swimmer
— Former University of Arizona swimmer. NCAA and PAC-10 Champion. Co-founder, Independent Council of Women's Sports (ICONS).
Amanda Houdeschell — Leader, Women's Liberation Front
She believes inclusion shouldn't be achieved on the backs of women. WoLF teamed up with Independent Women’s Forum to draft the Women's Bill of Rights, website: womensbillofrights.com
Julia Chang — 4th degree Taekwondo blackbelt
A Korean American, she has coached girls in Taekwondo and believes allowing males to compete against females puts them in danger.
Mary Szoch — Basketball player
She made the basketball team as a walk on her senior year at Notre Dame. She represents the girl at the end of the bench who will not make the team if boys and men are competing as women.
Maureen Bannon — Volleyball player
Former NCAA volleyball player at West Point, three-time Patriot League Setter of the Year, Patriot League Rookie of the Year, Patriot League Tournament MVP and four-time All-Patriot League
She believes the athletics system in the past was effective in fostering confidence, leadership, community for girls and women. Volleyball and athletic participation shaped who she is today.
Thank you for these!
WoLF (your #19) is doing a lot of great work on mutliple women's issues:
http://www.womensliberationfront.org
I'm so thankful for the true feminists fighting for women and girls. Also, why does the left shower trans people with love but there is no love for de-transitioning people? Schools should feature de-trans case studies right alongside trans stories.