(The Center Square) – Two proposals in Congress tied to protection of women’s spaces in the Olympics will be the near-term focus of lawmakers, says a former three-sport high school athlete from North Carolina whose career was ended by injury during a volleyball game and a spike by a boy.
Payton McNabb was part of a luncheon on Wednesday led by U.S. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn. She told TCS afterward the encouragement from “leaders who care and want to help every how they can” is immeasurable.
“There are people in power who are willing to say no, and to stand up for women and their safety,” McNabb told TCS. “There was a time when no one was doing that. Four years ago, this didn’t seem possible.
“Now, to share my story, in an intimate way, to pick each other’s brains, what we know from across the country – it’s encouraging. It shows that you do have support and people that are willing, after a time when you didn’t. I’m thankful to be a part of that.”
It was Sept. 1, 2022, at Highlands High School when the spiked volleyball from an opponent changed McNabb’s life. The career of the Hiwassee Dam High athlete, a senior, was done. Today, she still battles medical issues.
Her struggles, she says, are “because of one guy” and adults who were enablers.
She was joined from Independent Women at the table by May Mailman, director of the Law Center at Independent Women, and more than a half a dozen members of Congress.
“When schools and organizations require female athletes to subject themselves to danger, unfairness, and indecency by men claiming to be women, President Trump and key members of Congress are paying attention and will not stand by idly,” Mailman told TCS. “Winning back fairness and common sense will be a flagship issue for Republicans in this era, and we’re grateful to have a champion in Whip Emmer.”
Mailman was an author for second-term Republican President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5, 2025, executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
Protection of Women in Olympic and Amateur Sports Act, known also as House Resolution 1028 and authored by Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steube, has language to define men and women by reproductive systems. It seeks to amend Title 36 of the United States Code, prohibiting “a person whose sex is male from participating in an amateur athletic competition that is designated for females, women or girls.”
A proposal filed Monday by Texas Republican Rep. Michael Cloud would “require national governing bodies for Olympic and amateur sports to limit participation in events to athletes’ biological sex, defined as immutable and determined at conception.” His bill is known as the SAFE Olympic Sports Act, or Securing Actual Female Events in Olympic Sports Act without the acronym.
Six days before Trump was sworn in, the 119th Congress was in place and Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2025 – known also as House Resolution 28 – passed the lower chamber 218-206 with just two of 215 Democrats in favor. The proposal amends Title IX, placing a distinction on male or female at birth.
The measure was received in the Senate on Jan. 15, 2025, and since has never even moved to a committee.
“We didn’t spend a lot of time on that,” McNabb said. “A lot of people’s goal for next is getting the Olympics bill, getting that across. This is good timing, and it shows the importance of it.”
Last Friday, Algerian boxer Imane Khelif confirmed what most already believed – he has the male chromosome. He told French sports magazine L’Equipe he also has elevated levels of testosterone. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Khelif won a gold medal in women’s welterweight boxing.
On Saturday, the International Olympic Committee said a new unified policy with final details still to be determined was coming together for major competitions inclusive of the Olympic Games and world championships. Competitors having experienced full male puberty before any medical transition will face tighter restrictions if wanting to compete in women’s categories.
Mark Adams, for the IOC, at the Milano Cortina Winter Games in Italy said “protecting the female category is one of the key reforms” IOC President Kirsty Coventry wants to bring in. She’s the first woman to lead the nearly 132-year-old organization.
“The Olympics are going to be in Los Angeles in two years,” McNabb said. “Hopefully they’ll get these protections in place before the Olympics come to the states.”
Congressional representation engaging with McNabb and Mailman included, in addition to Emmer, Republican Reps. Stephanie Bice of Oklahoma, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina, Kat Cammack and Steube of Florida, Erin Houchin of Indiana, Jen Kiggans of Virginia, and Mary Miller of Illinois.
“Women’s sports are a huge deal,” McNabb said. “Women’s hockey just blew Canada out. It’s nice to celebrate these times. It shows what we’re fighting for.”
