Exclusive | NJ Democrat Sue Altman not super worried about biological men in womens locker rooms

A New Jersey Democrat running for the US House in a closely watched district said recently she’s “not super worried” about biological men entering women’s locker rooms and is advocating for their inclusion in female sports.Sue Altman, a former Columbia University women’s basketball player who played professionally in Ireland and Germany, told prospective voters at a Sept.26 town hall in Phillipsburg that she “got such a benefit from Title IX” — but had no qualms with “our trans brothers and sisters” dissolving female-only athletics.“If we decide as a society that making rules about who is and who isn’t female is more important than giving young children a chance to be on teams and compete and to be part of something bigger than themselves, especially young people who are more susceptible to suicide and bullying, then I think we’ve lost our way a little bit,” Altman said.“As someone who’s been working to advocate for women’s rights and women’s sports, I promise you that in the locker rooms of women’s sports teams, we’re not super worried about this,” she added.“We’ve been worried about getting equal access to gym time, good referees, good trainers so you don’t get injured, fair shake at scholarships, equal pay at the higher levels.”Transgender participation in sports, especially youth sports has been a hotly debated topic at both international and national levels in recent years, with biological males winning first-place awards ahead of their female competitors at several high-profile competitions.Between 2021 and 2023, the percentage of Americans who said that athletes should only be allowed to play on teams corresponding to their biological sex increased from 62% to 69%, according to Gallup.Other surveys have had similar findings.A majority of Democrats in 2021 supported participation based on gender identity, the Gallup survey found, but by 2023 a plurality of 48% favored sex-segregated teams and spaces.The opposi...