Why October 10 Should Be Designated ‘American Girls In Sports’ Day

Today should be “American Girls in Sports Day,” a commemorative time to celebrate all of women’s contributions to athletics.

In many ways, October 10 is the perfect date for this occasion: As the 10th day of the 10th month of the year, it represents the Roman numerals XX — the same numerals as the female sex chromosome. Earlier this year, I introduced a resolution to establish this holiday, garnering support from female athletes, prominent women’s organizations, and 38 of my Senate Republican colleagues.

In a divided government, however, you need support from both sides of the aisle to accomplish almost anything. And for today’s Democratic Party, recognizing women’s accomplishments is unacceptable. For them, my resolution runs afoul of their far-Left agenda to blur the line between the sexes — and ultimately erase women from public life.

In fact, when I called for the resolution’s passage last month on the Senate floor, a Democratic colleague spoke out against it, calling the legislation “shameful” and “designed to build a culture of fear and mistrust.”

In reality, American Girls in Sports Day should draw the support of every single Tennessean and American and unite our country around women’s incredible athletic accomplishments since the passage of Title IX, the landmark civil rights law that opened the door for so many women and young girls to participate in sports.

Don’t take my word for it: I encourage everyone to read the text of the resolution. If you do, you might be wondering how anyone could oppose American Girls in Sports Day. But while Democrats’ opposition to the commemorative holiday is disturbing, it is far from surprising.

For years, the Biden-Harris administration has worked to eliminate women’s-only spaces, facilities, and sports by attacking Title IX protections.

Since its passage in 1972, Title IX has led to an explosion in women’s participation in athletics — with the number of high school female athletes increasing more than tenfold to more than 3 million — by guaranteeing equal resources for facilities, training, recruitment, and scholarships for female athletic programs. In the name of its radical agenda, however, the administration has tried to roll back this progress.

On the 50th anniversary of Title IX in 2022, for example, President Biden announced his administration would reinterpret the law to allow biological males to play on female teams. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris administration issued another Title IX revision that allows males to access women’s locker rooms, bathrooms, and other private facilities.

As a result, more and more girls and women are losing out on scholarships, records, and medals to males who have inherent biological advantages that undermine fair competition.

On the Senate floor, my Democratic colleague dismissed this erasure of women’s accomplishments, claiming that female athletes are more likely to be “killed by a falling object in this country” than face a biological male in competition. Apparently, that’s supposed to comfort the many women and girls across our country who have endured the humiliation, demoralization, and unfairness of losing to male competitors.

These young women deserve so much better. Thankfully, many are speaking out to defend their hard-earned places and accomplishments in sports. Although today isn’t officially American Girls in Sports Day, we should all take a moment to reflect on all they have accomplished. In the meantime, I will continue to fight to ensure that our nation’s female athletes have the recognition, honors, and opportunities that they have worked so hard for — and deserve.

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U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn represents the state of Tennessee and serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.