AOC Lays Out the New Dem Talking Points on Men in Women’s Spaces

Ocasio-Cortez: “Now, I’ve spent a decent amount of my time here in Congress sitting through panels and hearings of men attempting to restrict the rights of women and telling us that it’s for our own good. But I want to dive a little bit more deeply into why this issue, targeting trans women in sports, is particularly problematic, not just for trans girls, but for all of us. We’re here today because there’s a proposal here, and there are several proposals here to further marginalize trans women in sports. And I think about this all the time, because trans people in the United States doesn’t even exceed one percent of our population, and yet, there’s so many resources and energy and time dedicated to figuring out how we can more finely exclude them from our sports. And I thought why — why so much effort and dedication on such a tiny portion of the U.S. population when there virtually is no major issue that is — that is precipitating. And started to realize that a lot of these proposals here involve invasion of privacy of all women. Ms. Goss Graves, can you tell us a little bit about what ‘sex testing’ looks like for youth in states with trans athletic bans?”
GOSS GRAVES: “It’s terrible. In some states, any individual could challenge whether someone is a girl enough to play. In some states, it requires actual genital verification, which is shocking. And there aren’t — it’s not as if there —“
Ocasio-Cortez: “And let me just stop you right there. You said there are some proposals. We’ve seen this in Ohio. There was a proposed ban on trans athletes that originally allowed for genital examinations on minors in order to ‘protect’ women. Is that correct?”
GOSS GRAVES: “Unfortunately, yes.”
Ocasio-Cortez: “And so, we’re seeing here in this guise, under the guise of not only trying to further marginalize trans women and girls, we are talking about opening up all women and girls to genital examinations when they are underage.”
GOSS GRAVES: “That’s right.”
Ocasio-Cortez: “Potentially just because someone can point to someone and say I don’t think you’re a girl.”
GOSS GRAVES: “That’s correct.”
Ocasio-Cortez: “And we’re saying this in an environment of a post-Dobbs America, where states are criminalizing access to abortion and want nothing more than data on women to figure out when, who’s getting a menstrual cycle, who doesn’t have one, and we’re supposed to believe that this is going to make us better and safer? I think not. And per usual, I don’t believe we’re sitting here on a panel of men that has actually thought about the biology and privacy consequences of all women, trans or cisgender here. Ms. Goss Graves, in addition to that, are there are certain groups more likely to face discrimination under these bans when it comes to — and you were speaking to, particularly when it comes to black women and girls?”