Politics

Here Are The States That Want To Ban Biological Males From Women’s Sports

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  • At least 31 states have taken action to ban biological males from participating in female sports.
  • Polling conducted by The Heritage Foundation found that a majority of Americans oppose allowing students to compete on sports teams or use locker rooms that do not align with their biological sex.
  • The NCAA announced last week that it would withdraw competitions from states that pass these bills. 
  • “This commitment is grounded in our values of inclusion and fair competition,” the NCAA said. “Our clear expectation as the Association’s top governing body is that all student-athletes will be treated with dignity and respect.”

At least 31 states have taken action to ban biological males from participating in female sports.

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have introduced legislation aimed at banning biological males from female sports, according to data compiled by the American Principles Project.

Governors in Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, and Tennessee have signed these pieces of legislation into law.

Idaho’s HB 500, or the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, has been held up in court since the ACLU challenged the law last year. Under former President Donald Trump’s administration, the Justice Department filed an amicus brief defending the law.

Though Republican West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has not yet signed H.B. 3293, the governor said during a press briefing last week that he would either “let it become law or sign it, emphasizing that he will “absolutely not” veto the bill.

South Dakota’s bill was thrust into the national spotlight when Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem refused to sign the legislation without her suggested changes. The governor has steadily insisted the bill would subject South Dakota to lawsuits the state could not win and said she seeks to “protect girls” through other measures.

Noem continues to push back on assertions that she caved to pressure from groups like the NCAA, emphasizing that she wants long-term solutions that will protect South Dakota girls.

The NCAA announced last week that it would withdraw competitions from states that pass legislation preventing biological males from participating in women’s sports.

“This commitment is grounded in our values of inclusion and fair competition,” the NCAA said in a statement. “Our clear expectation as the Association’s top governing body is that all student-athletes will be treated with dignity and respect.”

American Principles Project Director of Policy and Government Affairs Jon Schweppe said that the NCAA statement “re-declared war on female athletes.”

“The only thing that is still unclear is what the NCAA plans to do in response to the state governments which have bravely acted to defend women’s sports,” Schweppe said in a statement last week. “While yesterday’s statement ominously threatened that the NCAA is ‘closely monitor[ing] these situations,’ it did not definitively commit to removing events.”

So we ask the NCAA: Do you plan to punish states for protecting women’s sports? Will you place the agenda of the woke far left above the rights of female athletes? Those athletes deserve a clear answer,” Schweppe said.

A review conducted by Axios in March found that GOP lawmakers have introduced more bills aimed at protecting women and children in the first few months of 2021 than they did in all of 2020.

Polling conducted by The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, found that 58% of Americans oppose allowing students to compete on sports teams and another 53% oppose the use showers or locker rooms that do not align with their biological sex.

A 2019 Morning Consult survey found that majorities of self-identified Republicans, Democrats and independents said biological male athletes who identify as transgender women “have a competitive advantage” over female athletes. At least 55% of American adults said that the biologically male athletes have an advantage, according to the poll, and just 20% disagreed.

Another 2019 Rasmussen survey found that 51% oppose allowing biological male athletes who identify as transgender on girls’ sports teams. At least 57% of black Americans surveyed said they oppose male athletes in girls’ sports.

The Rasmussen survey also found that only 29% of Americans favored allowing male athletes onto girls’ athletic teams while 20% of respondents said they were unsure.

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