30 U.S. States Seeking to Block Transgender Athletes from Competing in Girls’ Sports

TUPELO, Miss. —The American Family Association (AFA, www.afa.net) supports American families, traditional values, and the moral absolutes of God’s creative design. Among those values and absolutes is the fact that God made His children in His image, on purpose, male and female. That biological fact is under attack, but Americans are making their voices heard, and many legislatures and governors around the country are responding to their constituents.

“When it comes to gender issues, conservatives won’t be able to count on sane policies coming out of the Biden administration,” said Ed Vitagliano, executive vice president of American Family Association. “So, states will have to go it alone when it comes to matters like protecting girls in sports.

“These 30+ states are doing the right thing because we all know that males have distinct advantages over females when it comes to speed, strength, and power. Not only can girls be harmed physically competing against biological males, but they can lose playing time on teams, the opportunity to set athletic records, and perhaps even college scholarships. This is a no-brainer, but the fact that states have to pass such laws in the first place lets us know we are dealing with gender radicals who don’t care about the gains made by girls and women over the last 50 years.”

Earlier this year, the Biden administration issued an executive order prioritizing transgender rights by opening public school bathrooms, locker rooms, and sports to all students regardless of their biological gender.

Once the executive order was issued, millions of Americans and hundreds of thousands of American Family Association constituents contacted their state senators, house members, and governors’ offices. Because of this call to action, significant progress to protect female athletes has been made in recent months:

• More than 30 U.S. states have introduced legislative bills that would restrict transgender youth from competing in female sports.
• Governors in Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Mississippi, Tennessee, and West Virginia have already signed bills outlawing transgender students from competing in female sports teams in public schools. In addition now to those six states, Montana just became the latest state on Friday, May 7, to ban transgender students from female sports teams at state schools through the governor’s signage of the Save Women’s Sports Act.
• South Dakota’s governor recently issued a similar executive order. Florida’s governor promises to sign a similar measure into law in his state.

However, a case in Connecticut, which has gained national attention, depicts why it is imperative for all U.S. states to enact legislation that protects biological girls in female sports. Rights of girls under Title IX are being violated in Connecticut when girls are being forced to compete against athletes who were born as male. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) says that the law guarantees girls “equal quality” of competition, which is denied by having to race against people with inherent physiological advantages. In recent years, two male athletes who identify as female won 15 women’s high school track championships that were once held by nine different girls in Connecticut. As a result, four athletes will appeal a recent federal district court ruling, which currently allows the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference to abolish ‘girls only’ sports.

 Stand with AFA in this fight to protect women and their value as God’s unique creation. To receive updates on pending legislation and actions in your state, sign up to receive AFA Action Alerts.

 For over 40 years,  AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. 

 AFA—founded in 1977—has long been on the front lines of America's culture war. Today, AFA is one of the largest and most effective pro-family organizations in the country, with nearly a million online supporters and approximately 160,000 subscribers to the AFA Journal, the ministry’s monthly magazine. In addition, AFA owns and operates nearly 180 radio stations across the country under the American Family Radio banner. 

 View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.

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 To interview a representative of the American Family Association, contact [email protected], Beth Harrison, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Deborah Hamilton, ext. 102.