The media blackout on...

Hot Air

The media blackout on 

the Equality Act 

and girls' sports

Just yesterday a heartbreaking op-ed written by the mother of a Connecticut girl described as a rising star in high school track and field events. Her daughter had been sidelined by a pair of boys who identify as girls and have been blowing away the competition in state-level girls’ track meets. One thing she touched on was the efforts by Democrats to pass a piece of legislation known as the Equality Act.

If that bill becomes law, it will spread the trend of boys being allowed to compete in girls’ competitive sports across the nation, basically eliminating women’s sports as it currently exists. But you haven’t heard anything about this topic during the debates and precious little on cable news or in the larger newspapers. This lack of coverage exists despite the fact that every major Democratic presidential candidate has endorsed the Equality Act and promised to sign it into law if elected. The Daily Caller has a deep dive into this media blackout that’s definitely worth a look.

Democrats have made girls’ sports a 2020 campaign issue, but establishment media outlets are keeping their viewers and readers in the dark.

Every Democratic frontrunner has pledged their support of the Equality Act, which would make “gender identity” a protected characteristic under federal anti-discrimination law. Among other things, the bill would force public schools to expand female athletic teams to include biological males who identify as transgender girls.

Every Democratic frontrunner for president has pledged their support for the bill, which passed the House in May with unanimous Democratic support. But when establishment media outlets have covered the Equality Act in relation to the 2020 election, the girls’ sports issue has gone missing.

The study goes on to point out that only a single article on CNN’s website(from May of this year) mentions the issue of transgender athletes in girls’ sports. They recently hosted a candidate forum focused exclusively on LGBT issues and the subject was never mentioned once.

But CNN was hardly the only major media outlet that’s been silent on this question. The New York Times provided coverage of the House passage of the bill but included zero mentions of the athlete question. The Washington Post briefly mentioned the athlete question back when the bill was voted on in the House, and to their credit, they also published an op-ed from three top-level female athletes on the subject, but since then they haven’t mentioned it again.

The list goes on. This subject is receiving zero media attention outside of conservative outlets. The vast majority of the public likely knows little to nothing about it as they prepare to vote. And all of this is taking place while polls consistently show that a majority of voters across party lines believe that biological males have an unfair advantage against actual female athletes. Why isn’t this issue receiving more attention? It might be because most MSM figures know how unpopular it would be so it’s probably better to simply not bring it up.

There’s another debate tonight with all of the potential nominees who have endorsed the Equality Act on the stage. Do you suppose any of them will be asked about this? I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting.