Josh Hawley and John Kennedy dismiss Senate hearing on sports betting for anti-trans discrimination

In this election cycle, Republicans have shown their willingness to spread anti-trans bigotry. And that continued this week in a Senate hearing on the pitfalls of legalized sports betting.

Thanks in part to the ease with which even the best novices can bet online, the hype surrounding sports betting has reached an all-time high. And because of that, gambling addiction experts have noticed the financial loss, lost homes and damaged relationships caused by unhealthy gambling habits. Along with that, college athletes have faced death threats and other forms of harassment from angry fans upset by losing bets.

To put it another way, sports betting is a a real disaster abusive college sports and the United States writes more – compared to the problem created by conservatives who removed it because of the presence of trans athletes.

And, in fact, much of Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing was interactive, focusing on things like the dangers of sports betting and cyber threats. But the two Republicans on the committee, Josh Hawley of Missouri and John Kennedy of Louisiana, apparently had ulterior motives, as they both withdrew from the discussion on trans attacks.

Hawley used the opportunity to attack NCAA President Charlie Baker for the NCAA’s deference to state courts by allowing a small number of women who play college sports — Baker said he knows of fewer than 10 transgender players out of 510,000 student-athletes — to participate on women’s teams. Hawley also complained about trans women being allowed to use the locker rooms of their choice and falsely claimed that five NCAA women’s volleyball teams “should” lose games because of a player on the opposing team.

You can watch Hawley and Baker’s exchange here:

Kennedy’s ire was equally racist, as he insisted that the “natural male” competing in sports had an advantage “every time” over the “natural female” – a claim not supported by evidence but by a visibly angry Baker, a former Republican governor. of Massachusetts, said he agreed with it – at least according to Kennedy’s interpretations.

Republicans who have found trans people as their political piñatas after the election may be rewarded for doing so. And the questions from Hawley and Kennedy are a precursor to the kind of provocation we can expect when Republicans take control of the Senate in January.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com