Arizona State Senator Catherine Miranda
An Arizona State Senator berated a female volleyball player for wanting female-only sports on Wednesday during a Senate Education Committee Hearing, where they considered HCR 2003, the Protect Girls in Sports in Arizona Act.
The Senator mocked and attacked the athlete’s “sports mentality,” suggesting she’s just not competitive enough to play against men.
Former NCAA athlete Kaylie Ray gave a public comment on the bill, which would simply designate each sport based on the sex of participating athletes and prohibit a school or athletic association from authorizing an individual to use a provided restroom, locker room, or other private space integral to athletic engagement that is not designated for the individual’s sex.
The bill would further require schools and Arizona athletic associations to designate competitive sports in three categories: men’s, women’s, and coed.
Ray, a former Utah State Volleyball captain, who “led a team forfeit against San Jose State in 2024, in protest of a trans athlete on San Jose State University (SJSU),” according to Fox, spoke in the Senate on her experience being forced to compete against a male athlete as a Division 1 college volleyball player. “Our basic right to a fair and safe competition was violated because the people who were meant to protect us decided that validating this individual’s identity was more important,” she said, urging lawmakers to ensure that women have equal opportunities, safety, and fairness in sports and private spaces.
WATCH:
Ray: I have been playing volleyball in Arizona since I was 8 years old, both at the club and high school levels, and through years of discipline and sacrifice, I earned the honor of becoming an NCAA Division 1 team captain at Utah State University. During my time there, our women’s team was forced to compete against a team that had a male starter. This player had explosive athleticism and attacked with power that was clearly unmatched by any female athlete in the gym. The jumping ability and physicality of the male athlete was also far superior to anyone else’s on the court. My teammates and I feared for our safety, and we were disheartened by the lack of fairness.
Our basic right to a fair and safe competition was violated because the people who were meant to protect us decided that validating this individual’s identity was more important. And let me be clear, bodies play sports, not identities. The emotional toll this situation had on myself, my teammates, and the women across the conference is honestly too great to put into words. We were repeatedly dismissed and abandoned because our leaders were afraid to speak the truth. Men do not belong in women’s spaces– never have, never will.
Only some 50 years ago, women fought for the passage of Title IX to have designated spaces and sports based on sex. They fought relentlessly to have equal opportunities and enjoy the privileges that come with and through education and participating in sport. As those women did before me, I stand before you today to plead for all of the girls and women in sport now and those to come. It is not fair, it is not safe, it is not right to rob us of the opportunities that sport provides by allowing biological males access to our spaces in sports. Reality matters, biology matters, and women matter.
But Arizona State Senator Catherine Miranda found her testimony to be a sign of weakness, arguing that she, as a “tomboy,” was better and more “competitive” than Ray.
“I’ve played against girls that look like you. You look very much in shape and strong. But it’s a sports mentality when you’re growing up and how much competition that you’ll take on,” Miranda said. “So, it’s not just a silver bullet for one community of sports players; it’s the individual person on how competitive you want to be.”
“So, you grew up one way. I grew up a different way. I would have taken on a man in a heartbeat,” she continued, noting that she was the “only girl sometimes in men’s sports” and would have welcomed men in women’s sports.
Miranda previously opened up about being a girl, playing in “men’s sports,” according to a 2017 Hispanic Engineer & Technology report, which details her history of playing in boys’ little league baseball– with prepubescent children. But the way she described it, you’d think she was playing college ball with a wad of Copenhagen in her cheek. She went on to play basketball at Arizona State University, presumably against only females.
“It just depends on the sports mentality of that individual, and that’s why this bill is bad because you’re just putting a whole community of women’s sports in one category when women like me, we have a different opinion,” she added before questioning Ray’s competitive ability.
Ray fired back, “As elite-level athletes, I would say we’re very competitive, which is why this bill designates three categories: male, female, and coed.” She further told the Senator, “If you want to compete against your man, absolutely, let’s do that in the coed section,” and “If that’s the level of competition you want to have for yourself, amazing, go try it in the coed section.”
Notably, Miranda’s criticisms had nothing to do with transgender athletes. She blatantly admitted that the Democrats just want men in women’s sports and that the female athletes who are opposed simply lack competitive spirit.
WATCH:
Miranda: I have my sports hat on now. It’s all about a sports mentality, growing up in sports, being a tomboy. I mean, you look pretty healthy. I’ve played against girls that look like you. You look very much in shape and strong. But it’s a sports mentality when you’re growing up and how much competition that you’ll take on. So, it’s not just a silver bullet for one community of sports players; it’s the individual person on how competitive you want to be.
So, you grew up one way. I grew up a different way. I would have taken on a man in a heartbeat. I played in– I was the only girl sometimes in men’s sports. But to have a man on my team, I would have welcomed it. But this is just my opinion. So, it just depends on the sports mentality of that individual, and that’s why this bill is bad because you’re just putting a whole community of women’s sports in one category when women like me, we have a different opinion. So, how competitive do you think you really are?
Ray: As elite-level athletes, I would say we’re very competitive, which is why this bill designates three categories: male, female, and coed. The idea is that everyone can participate in sport. If you want to compete against your man, absolutely, let’s do that in the coed section. The clarity and distinction is really important because when men are allowed access into women’s sports and spaces, it’s not women’s sports and spaces anymore. And as the passage of Title IX was so important, there is a need, a necessity, to protect women’s spaces.
It’s not to say that people are banned from sports. That’s not the situation at all. If that’s the level of competition you want to have for yourself, amazing, go try it in the coed section. But, again, this is about protecting the women’s category and women’s sports.
The post WATCH: Deranged Leftist AZ State Senator Attacks and Lectures Female Volleyball Player, Accuses Her of Being Weak for Refusing to Play Against Men – “How Competitive do You Think You Really Are?” appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.