Elite Volleyball Player Helps Push ‘Save Women’s Sports’ Measure Through Arizona Legislature
A measure to keep boys out of girls sports will appear on the ballot in Arizona this November thanks to brave activists like elite volleyball player Kaylie Ray.
HCR 2003, which the Arizona Senate approved in a 16-12 vote along party lines last week, requires schools and kids’ athletic clubs to provide single-sex changing areas and assign competitors to “male,” “female,” or “co-ed” teams based on sex.
The state House of Representatives passed HCR 2003 in a 32-25 vote in February. Arizonans will vote on the measure in November.
Ray knows first-hand the importance of protecting women’s sports and spaces. She faced San Jose State University’s (SJSU) Blaire Fleming, a male, on the volleyball court in 2024.
As captain of Utah State University’s women’s volleyball team, Ray led her teammates to forfeit a match against SJSU.
She shared her experience with the Arizona Senate Education Committee, which was considering HCR 2003, in March.
“This player had explosive athleticism and attacked with power that was clearly unmatched by any female athlete in the gym,” she explained. “The jumping ability and physicality of the male athlete was also far superior to anyone else’s on the court.”
“My teammates and I feared for our safety, and we were disheartened by the lack of fairness,” she continued, concluding:
Thankfully, most Arizona senators sided with Ray. Among the minority, however, was State Senator Catherine Miranda, who argued Ray and her teammates just weren’t competitive enough to face down a man.
“You grew up one way, I grew up a different way,” Sen. Miranda said in a now viral clip from March. “I would have taken on a man in a heartbeat.”
She claimed she had experienced being only girl on a boys team before, evidently referring to when she was the only girl on her local little league team — hardly D1 volleyball.
“Women like me, we have a different opinion,” she told Ray. “So how competitive do you think you are?”
Sen. Miranda’s astonishing lack of awareness did not ruffle Ray. “As elite level athletes, I would say we’re very competitive,” she responded, reminding the legislator women who wanted to compete against men could choose to compete in the “co-ed” category under HCR 2003.
Later, Ray told Fox News Digital:
State Sen. Miranda twice voted against HCR 2003. She also voted in favor of amending the measure to allow schools and clubs to assign athletes to teams and changing spaces based on characteristics other than sex.
Now that HCR 2003 has passed the Arizona legislature, Ray hopes State Sen. Miranda will accept reality.
“This is what the American public wants: safe places for our daughters to achieve and excel,” she told Fox News Digital. “It’s not about exclusion; it’s about including those girls who are losing opportunities to boys.”
“Of course, I would hope that by looking at facts and biological truth she would come to [that] conclusion … but it seems unlikely.”
The Daily Citizen thanks Kaylie Ray and all others going above and beyond to protect girls sports and spaces in Arizona.
Additional Articles and Resources
Female Wrestler Sues Washington School District, Others for Forcing Her to Face Male Opponent
Athletes Rally at Supreme Court to Keep Boys Out of Girls Sports
Top 5 Moments From Supreme Court Arguments Over Girls Sports
U.S. Supreme Court Takes Up Cases on Boys in Girls Sports
UPenn Will Strip ‘Lia’ Thomas of Medals, Apologize to Female Athletes
SJSU Hired Same Law Firm to Simultaneously Defend and Investigate Male Athlete on Women’s Team
NCAA and San Jose State ‘Transgender’ Volley Player Usurp Women’s Rights
Four Women’s Volleyball Teams Forfeit — Won’t Play Team with a Man
Photo courtesy of Independent Council on Women’s Sports
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