A registered Democrat who has donated to Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg is accusing the party of abandoning its own voters on transgender sports.
Jean Chadbourne, who identifies as a conservative Democrat, says the party’s leaders are ignoring their base on the issue of separating biological males and females in athletic competition. She points to polling that shows a majority of Democrats oppose mixed-sex sports, yet the party’s elected officials are not showing up to hearings on the topic.
Only two Democrats appeared at Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on protecting women’s sports, and both left within an hour. No Democratic leaders attended to hear testimony from witnesses arguing for the separation. Democrats called no witnesses of their own during the hearing.
The Polling Numbers
A New York Times poll from last year found that 67 percent of people who lean Democratic oppose the mixing of the two sexes in sports. A Pew poll said 55 percent of Democrats would be “not too” or “not at all” comfortable with athletes playing on teams that don’t match their sex at birth.
Chadbourne sees a disconnect between those numbers and the party’s actions. She argues that Democratic politicians are out of touch with their own voters on this issue.
What Spanberger Did
Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger rolled back proposed protections for biological females sports without announcing it to the public in July. The move came quietly, and Chadbourne says it reflects a broader pattern of Democrats failing to defend women’s rights.
Kara Dansky, who wrote the book “The Reckoning: How the Democrats and the Left Betrayed Women and Girls” in 2023, claims there is a “multi-billion industry” motivated to make gender-transitioning as frequent as possible. Dansky notes that “a lot of kids are being put on a lot of drugs, which, if they go the traditional route, they will take for decades if not the rest of their lives.”
Jennifer Sey, founder of XX-XY Athletics, left the party because its leaders couldn’t define what a woman is. Sey says “the (Democrat) politicians are old and out of touch, they’re not even reading the words given to them by the activist staffers.”
Sey’s XX-XY shirts have become synonymous with the separation of biological males and females in sports.
Durbin’s Claim
During Wednesday’s hearing, Democrat senator Dick Durbin asserted that a national ban on biological males in female sports would require “inappropriate gender verification checks.” Sey counters that there is already a ban in 27 states and these verification checks aren’t happening.
Carly Smolak, a former Australian rules football player, testified that a registered sex offender had joined her former team. Briley Lehcner, a 17-year-old high school volleyball player, spoke about a biological male entering her team’s locker room at a Capitol Hill press conference.
Last year, Oregon, Washington and California all had state-champion track-and-field athletes that were born male.
Why Chadbourne Is Watching
Chadbourne’s own experience informs her concern. She has followed the issue closely and sees a pattern of Democrats prioritizing identity politics over the interests of women and girls.
She is not alone in this assessment. Sey’s departure from the party reflects a broader movement among conservatives who feel abandoned by their former political home.
The hearing’s sparse Democratic attendance suggests the party’s leadership is not prioritizing this issue. Chadbourne believes that is a mistake.
What Comes Next
The issue is unlikely to fade away. State-level battles over transgender sports continue, and the national conversation remains contentious.
Chadbourne’s message is simple: Democratic politicians should listen to their voters on this issue, not just activists and donors. The polls show where the party’s base stands, and the party’s elected officials are not reflecting that.
Whether the party changes course remains to be seen. For now, Chadbourne and others like her are making their voices heard.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the individual freedom of every athlete to compete without being forced into a category that doesn’t match their biology, and is against political offices and parties that gather power over people’s lives rather than answer to their own voters. The hearing showed that power resting with a few officials, not with the people watching.
The hearing drew only two Democrats, both leaving early, while witnesses spoke of locker rooms entered by males and a sex offender joining a team. Those stories matter because they point to real pressure on young athletes, but they were told without settled context about what actually happened. The paper notes this before settling on the facts as given. The polls show a majority of Democrats oppose mixed-sex sports, yet the party’s leaders are not showing up to hearings on the topic. That is a pattern of power gathering in Washington, not power answering to voters.
The paper supports letting individuals choose how they compete, free from government mandate, and wants Washington to stop treating sports policy as a partisan question. When officials stop attending hearings their own voters care about, and when they roll back protections without telling anyone, that is power gathering in one place. The reader should watch for that same pattern elsewhere, and remember that polls show the party’s base opposes mixed-sex sports, while the party’s leaders keep skipping the hearings.
Key Facts Box
- Poll: 67 percent of people who lean Democratic oppose mixed-sex sports (New York Times)
- Poll: 55 percent of Democrats uncomfortable with athletes on mismatched teams (Pew)
- Witnesses: Smolak testified, Lehcner spoke at Capitol Hill press conference
- States with bans: 27 states already have bans on biological males in female sports
- State champions: Oregon, Washington, California all had male-born athletes win last year
- Governor: Abigail Spanberger rolled back protections without public announcement in July
Schedule Table
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Senate Judiciary Committee hearing | Wednesday | Senate Judiciary Committee |
| Governor Spanberger rollback announced | July | Virginia |
| Sey’s book published | 2023 | — |
| State champion wins | Last year | Oregon, Washington, California |
The story is about power, and who holds it. Chadbourne is a registered Democrat who has donated to three presidential candidates. She is not an outsider. She is a donor and a voter who feels the party has moved past her.
The polls show her side. The attendance record at Wednesday’s hearing does not. That gap is the story.
Source material: “Democrat politicians are betraying their own voters on trans sports issue,” Fox News.
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