BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Alabama, is again making headlines with a new bill to bar transgender women from participating in women’s sports at U.S. military academies—a move critics say is pure political showmanship and a distraction from real issues facing Alabamians.
Tuberville’s legislation, introduced this week, would require the Defense Secretary to ensure that West Point, the Naval Academy, and the Air Force Academy exclude anyone assigned male at birth from women’s sports teams, defining sex strictly by reproductive biology and genetics at birth. The bill comes after similar efforts by Tuberville failed to advance in the Senate earlier this year.
Despite Tuberville’s repeated claims that the measure is needed to “protect women’s sports,” there is no public record of any transgender woman ever competing in sports at a U.S. military academy. The issue, critics argue, is a manufactured controversy meant to energize certain political factions while ignoring more pressing concerns in Alabama and the nation.
Democrats in the Senate have blocked Tuberville’s previous attempts to pass similar legislation, calling the effort a distraction and a divisive culture war tactic. Civil rights advocates and progressive voices in Alabama have condemned the bill as bigoted and cruel, emphasizing that it targets a marginalized group for political gain.
As Tuberville eyes a 2026 gubernatorial run, his focus on this non-issue is seen by many in Alabama as a waste of time and energy—one that does little to address the real needs of the state or its military institutions.