Denver, CO — Independent Women’s Network (IWN), the national grassroots community activist arm of Independent Women’s Voice, was represented on Capitol Hill this week by IWN Denver Chapter Leader Megan Burke for National Girls & Women in Sports Day. Burke, a former 2x NCAA champion, track & cross country athlete at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, met with lawmakers to address the growing threats female athletes who are being forced to compete against biological males face and to advocate for protecting the integrity of women’s sports.
“As a former Division I athlete and mother to two girls, fairness in female sports has been top of mind for me as of late. The fact that we are allowing male athletes to compete in female sports is mind-boggling. It is unfair and it is unsafe. In the name of inclusion, we are excluding women. No amount of hormone suppressant will make a male a female, and that is just a fact,” said IWN’s Denver Chapter Leader Megan Burke. “With the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act that was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives this week, and with the support of House Republican leaders, I believe we are really moving the needle and the momentum is building. Now, we need more people to jump into this fight. I call on former athletes, current athletes, moms, dads, and women to use your voice to stand up for girls and women, and keep female sports female.”
Earlier that morning, with the support of Independent Women’s Network, Representatives Greg Steube and Claudia Tenney introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. Burke was escorted to the House Floor to witness the introduction. The bill amends Title IX to strengthen protections for female athletes and make clear that allowing biological males to take awards, roster spots, scholarships, or spots at a school from female athletes is discriminatory and illegal.
United States Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy held a panel discussion led by Independent Women’s Network and Independent Women’s Forum representatives, including 12x NCAA All-American swimmer Riley Gaines, on the discrimination women athletes face in sports today and what lawmakers can do to fight for preserving fairness and equity in sports. Click here for the link to watch the full panel discussion in the U.S. Capitol.
