Both Holly Hunter and Geena Davis are Oscar-winning actresses, but they have shifted their focus from the back lots of Hollywood to the back fields at schools all across the country. The duo hit Capitol Hill and the airwaves last week to protest proposed changes to Title IX, the 1972 federal law than bans gender discrimination at schools receiving public funding.

In the photo above, Hunter and former Sen. Birch Bayh (D-Ind.) listen to Davis speak out against the changes during a news conference Wednesday on Capitol Hill. Bayh was the author of the original 1972 law.

The news conference coincided with the release of a report from a federal commission formed to examine Title IX. The report recommends that the law be tweaked so that opportunities for girls and women do not come at the expense of boys and men. The report triggered controversy, however, when two members of the commission issued a dissenting report, complaining that the commission’s work was slanted.