An Arizona state senator is facing intense backlash after she appeared to belittle a former college athlete during a legislative hearing on a bill designed to protect women’s sports.
Former Utah State volleyball captain Kaylie Ray, 23, testified before an Arizona legislative committee on March 11 in support of the Protect Girls’ Sports in Arizona Act.
Ray previously led a protest against San Jose State University’s (SJSU) volleyball team over its decision to field Blaire Fleming, a biological male, as part of the women’s roster.
During Ray’s testimony, Democratic state Sen. Catherine Miranda, 61, responded with remarks about the athlete’s physical appearance rather than addressing the merits of her argument.
“You look pretty healthy,” Miranda told Ray during the hearing.
“I’ve played against girls that look like you. You look very in shape and strong.”
Miranda then shifted to questioning Ray’s competitive drive, saying, “But it’s a sports mentality when you’re growing up and how much competition that you’ll take on.”
The senator went on to describe her own upbringing and declared she would have “taken on a man in a heartbeat.”
Miranda argued against the bill by claiming some women prefer competing alongside men.
“I was the only girl sometimes in men’s sports,” she said. “But to have a man on my team, I would have welcomed it, but this is just my opinion.”
Miranda then challenged Ray’s competitive spirit directly, asking, “So how competitive do you think you really are?”
A New York Times poll conducted in January 2025 found that 79 percent of Americans believe transgender males should be barred from competing in women’s athletics.
Ray kept her composure and addressed the senator’s challenge with a direct response.
“Madam Chair, Senator, as elite level athletes, I would say we’re very competitive, which is why this bill designates three categories, male, female, and co-ed,” Ray replied.
She added, “The idea is that everyone can participate in sport. If you want to compete against your man, absolutely, let’s do that in the coed section because when men are allowed access into women’s sports and spaces, it’s not women’s sports and spaces anymore.”
Despite her composed demeanor in the hearing room, Ray later told Fox Digital that she was “absolutely fuming” during Miranda’s line of questioning and called her parents to vent afterward.
WATCH:
Social media users reacted sharply to Miranda’s remarks. “Someone tell the Senator to go into a locker room with a biological male identifying as a female,” one user wrote. “Shower next to them and get dressed next to them. Then let’s hear her answer.”
Another user wrote, “Good for that young girl and shame on that lady Catherine Miranda. Obviously, she thinks she can beat a man competitively, so go let her play in co-ed.”
A third commenter stated, “The smugness of this woman. The criticism and ridicule couldn’t be any more deserved when you sit on your throne and mock a young woman, thinking you have some superior moral high ground, only to realize all sane people find you absolutely abhorrent.”
The committee voted four to three in favor of advancing the act following hours of testimony.
The legislation comes in the wake of a 2024 controversy involving Fleming and the SJSU women’s volleyball team.
Multiple opponents that year refused to take the court against SJSU, allowing the team to accrue a 12-6 record while collecting seven wins by forfeit.
Ray was among those who joined a lawsuit led by Fleming’s former teammate Brooke Slusser against the California State University Board, which oversees SJSU, and the Mountain West Conference.
The lawsuit alleged violations of the First and 14th Amendments, as well as Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education.
