Texas Senate Passes “Save Women’s Sports” Bills in Special Session
July 14, 2021
Austin, TX—Today, the Texas Senate passed S.B. 2 and S.B. 32, the “Save Women’s Sports” bills which defend the rights of women not to be forced to compete against biological males in women’s sports. Women have fought for a right to equal opportunities, including equal opportunities in sports. Title IX was designed to stop discrimination and create equal athletic opportunities for women. These two bills recognize and protect the advances that have been made in the last 50 years for women.
Jonathan Covey, Director of Policy for Texas Values, testified in favor of the bill earlier this week. He released the following statement:
“Texas Values applauds the Texas Senate for protecting women’s sports from an unfair playing field. Our senators did not kowtow to the liberal agenda to destroy women’s sports by allowing biological males to steal athletic opportunities from girls. Girls should not be spectators in their own sports. Girls deserve a fair competition and the opportunity to experience the thrill of victory, which would not be possible with biological males overshadowing them.”
Three-quarters of Texans agree. Women’s Liberation Front and American Principles Project did a joint poll and found that 75% of Texans say that “boys and men who say they identify as transgender should not be allowed to compete in girls’ and women’s athletics.” Nationally, a Gallup poll found that “A majority of Americans (62%) say trans athletes should only be allowed to play on sports teams that correspond with their birth gender.”
Males and females are built biologically different, and biological males have physical advantages over females. No amount of hormone therapy can undo all of those advantages. The testosterone suppression policy used by the NCAA and Olympic Committee does nothing to take away the significant advantages the average male athlete has overall female athletes. Alarmingly, there was a 3800% increase in requests for a sex change on birth certificates in Texas.
The Texas “Save Women’s Sports” bills were introduced in the Regular Legislative Session, but were punted to the Special Session.
In 2021, 37 states have introduced bills to save women’s sports. Of those, 7 states have passed laws to protect female athletes including, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, and West Virginia in 2021.