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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., was criticized on social media for a post celebrating “Transgender Awareness Week.”
Many of the criticisms were made by activists fighting to protect women’s sports against biologically male transgender athletes.
Speaking out are former All-American gymnast and XX-XY Athletics co-founder Jennifer Sey, and former UPenn women’s swimmer and conservative influencer Paula Scanlan.
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Ocasio-Cortez was the subject of enormous criticism for advocating for trans athletes in women’s and girls’ sports in 2024 and early 2025. The congresswoman then sparked a viral feud with conservative activist Riley Gaines in late October.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., speaks during a rally in New York City on May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis)
In a series of X posts, Ocasio-Cortez mocked Gaines, who had just given birth to her first child, with comments including: “I want to challenge this person to get a real job,” and “Maybe if you channeled all this anger into swimming faster, you wouldn’t have come in fifth.”
In January, Ocasio-Cortez was mocked for a hysterical argument on the floor of the House of Representatives over the protection of Women and girls in sport Action. In a viral two-minute tirade, she included both false and unsubstantiated claims. Her speech ended with an inexplicable claim that “CEOs love this bill” as it related to the California Wildfires.
Ocasio-Cortez opened her argument by referencing Republicans’ history of voting against the “Violence Against Women Act” and an apparently false claim referring to their position on abortion rights.
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Ocasio-Cortez was also one of many Democrats who made unsubstantiated claims that the bill would expose young girls to sexual predators.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) speaks to the media outside the Thomas P. O’Neil Jr. House Office Building on February 28, 2024 in Washington, DC (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for the Congressional Integrity Project)
“And why? To open up gender, and yes, gender studies of little girls in this country, in the so-called name of attacking trans girls!” Ocasio-Cortez continued.
Nowhere in the bill did it state that girls or women had to undergo gender tests in order to participate in sports. However, Ocasio-Cortez, along with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats who oppose it, have cited that possibility as their main argument in opposing the act.
The argument resulted in pushback from voters in both parties, including prominent Rutgers law professor Gary Francione, who has been a lifelong Democrat dating back to the 1970s. Francione previously told Pakinomist Digital that he quit the party in response to Ocasio-Cortez and suggested other Democrats would follow suit.
“I can confidently say from the people that I know who are Democrats that I’ve talked to that the vast majority of them are very unhappy with all of this and feel that the party has lost its way,” Francione said. “I know a couple who said they would [unregister].”
Earlier in January, a New York Times/Ipsos survey found that the vast majority of Americans, including a majority of Democrats, do not believe that transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Of the 2,128 people who participated, 79% said biological males who identify as female should not be allowed to participate in women’s sports. Of the 1,025 people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrats, 67% said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete with women.
