Few things in life require more courage than when you’re going against the grain of leftist culture.
At the risk of being labeled a bigot, racist, sexist, or whatever leftist insult that has lost all meaning over the last 20 years, it would be a lot easier to just go with the flow and let those screeching ideologues have their way.
But at a certain point, enough is enough.
For many Americans, “enough” came when the left began pushing the dangerously fringe concept of gender ideology.
No, mediocre men should never be allowed to “identify” as a woman to gain access to women’s sports or private spaces. That should be abundantly obvious to anyone who isn’t some brainwashed drone slurping down leftist Kool-Aid.
Speaking of that, have you heard about Democratic Arizona state Sen. Catherine Miranda?
The relatively unknown lawmaker was thrust into the national spotlight this week after being in attendance at the Arizona Senate Education Committee hearing on Wednesday and getting into a combative exchange with women’s sports activist and former NCAA volleyball player Kaylie Ray.
Ray was in attendance to advocate for a state bill that would protect women’s sports. It’s a personal cause for her as she famously refused to play against San Jose State, which deployed a male volleyball player .
According to Fox News, Miranda has come under intense social media scrutiny after videos of the exchange began to go viral and, frankly, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer person.
Just look at Miranda’s sneering condescension as she spoke to Ray who, again, was simply there to advocate for protecting women:
🚨 This is an UGLY exchange. Arizona Democrat Sen. Catherine Miranda just attacked female athlete Kaylie Ray TO HER FACE for refusing to compete against a biological male on San Jose State’s volleyball team.
“I would have taken on a man in a heartbeat,” said Senator Miranda.… pic.twitter.com/saBixtTDHC
— Woke War Room (@WokeWarRoom) March 12, 2026
The entire spectacle began bizarrely enough when Miranda decided it would be appropriate to comment on Ray’s body.
“I have my sports hat on now. It’s all about a sports mentality, growing up in sports, being a tomboy,” Miranda said. “I mean, you look pretty healthy. I’ve played against girls that look like you. You look very much in shape and strong.”
Ew. But even grosser? When Miranda puffed her chest to boast about how she would’ve handled men invading women’s sports — and effectively called Ray a coward, to boot.
“It’s a sports mentality when you’re growing up and how much competition that you’ll take on,” Miranda said. “So it’s not just a silver bullet for one community of sports players, it’s the individual person on how competitive you want to be.”
“So you grew up one way. I grew up a different way,” she continued.
“I would have taken on a man in a heartbeat. I’ve played in, I was the only girl sometimes in sports. But to have a man on my team, I would have welcomed it.”
Even setting aside the lack of integrity it would take for an athlete to have “welcomed” an unfair competitive advantage, Miranda’s despicable attack on Ray’s character needs to be called out with prejudice.
This is the oldest trick in the activist playbook: when you can’t defend the policy, you try to belittle the person raising the objection.
It’s especially grotesque here, because Ray wasn’t grandstanding in a committee room for applause — she was recounting the very real consequences female athletes face when males are inserted into their competitions.
And let’s be clear about something Miranda seems determined to ignore. Refusing to compete against an unfair system isn’t cowardice — it’s principle, period.
Ray already proved her competitive credentials as an NCAA athlete, something Miranda never had to do under the same conditions.
Standing up publicly, knowing full well the alphabet mafia would come after her with the usual accusations of “bigotry,” takes a lot more spine than puffing out your chest in a legislative hearing and pretending biology doesn’t matter. Ray put her reputation, her career prospects, and her peace of mind on the line simply to say that women deserve a fair playing field.
In the end, Miranda’s smug little performance revealed far more about her than it did about Ray.
One woman showed up to defend fairness in women’s sports. The other showed up to mock her for it. If the debate over protecting female athletes needed a clearer illustration of who actually respects women — and who merely uses them as props for ideology — Arizona voters got it this week in plain view.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
