By The Daily Wire (World News) | Created at 2025-03-24 14:15:15 | Updated at 2025-04-06 01:51:26
1 week ago
Three years ago, during a high school girls’ volleyball match, the future I had envisioned for myself completely fell apart.
I suffered a severe head and neck injury after a trans-identifying male athlete on the opposing girls’ team sent a volleyball flying directly at my face. I was left partially paralyzed on the right side of my body. The full extent of my injuries forced me to confront the reality that the collegiate athletic career I had been pursuing was no longer possible, and that even basic tasks, such as driving and taking exams, would be significantly more difficult.
At first, I felt hopeless. But then I realized I could use my tragedy — the permanent consequences I must now live with as a result of an unfair policy forcing girls like me to compete against biological males—for good.
And that’s exactly what has happened.
It was an immense honor to attend President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on March 4 as a guest of the president and first lady. All I could think about as I listened to the president share my story is how far I’ve come — and how different things could have been.
I never wanted to be a policy advocate or public figure in the fight against gender ideology. All I wanted was to compete and play softball in college. But as President Trump reminded Americans during his address, gender ideology and the officials who enforce it stole that dream from me. And they have no regrets about doing so.
In fact, as I stood to be recognized by President Trump, not a single Democrat on the left side of the aisle applauded or stood in recognition of the hardship I have experienced. I don’t recall even one Democrat so much as looking in my direction. It was hard not to take this as a personal insult. After all, the policies they support — policies that strip women of their right to sex-based spaces and sports teams — cost me personally.
But the Democrats’ stubborn refusal to recognize the consequences of their policies doesn’t just affect me. Senate Democrats in particular made that quite clear this month when they refused to vote in favor of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, a bill that would bar male athletes from competing against — and potentially injuring — young women.
These Democrats know they are out of step with the American public on this issue—and they just don’t care. For example, when Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-NH, was asked earlier this month why she voted against the bill when the vast majority of her state’s residents support it, she insisted the legislation wasn’t important because “it only applies to one person.”
To be clear, even a very conservative estimate places the total number of trans-identifying male athletes competing in women’s sports at far more than just “one person.” But even if Shaheen were right, I am living proof of what can happen when just “one person” is forced to give up her sex-based right to fair and safe competition. Does my experience not matter to Democrats like Shaheen? Do my rights not count?
The fact is, it doesn’t matter how many trans-identifying athletes there are. The correct number of women who should be forced to compete against them is zero. And if congressional Democrats refuse to take our safety seriously, then state legislatures must pick up the slack for them.
After my injury, I was proud to help pass a bill in my home state of North Carolina, House Bill 574, that bans trans-identifying male athletes from playing in women’s sports at both the K-12 and collegiate levels, and I remain committed to helping other states follow suit. There are still 24 states that refuse to act on this issue. That must change.
Those states should keep in mind that the American public, the Trump administration, and, most importantly, common sense, are all on the same side: the side that values and protects women like me. They can either join the fight or stay seated like the Democrats in Congress this month. For their own sake, I hope they choose the former.
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Payton McNabb is an Independent Women ambassador and former three-sport athlete who was severely injured by a male playing in a women’s volleyball game. McNabb’s story was shared in IW Features‘ documentary, “Kill Shot: How Payton McNabb Turned Tragedy into Triumph.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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