Posted: | February 5, 2021 01:38 PM |
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From: | Representative Barbara Gleim and Rep. Martina A. White, Rep. Dawn W. Keefer, Rep. Valerie S. Gaydos, Rep. Stephanie Borowicz |
To: | All House members |
Subject: | Protect Women's Sports Act |
The opportunity for girls to compete on a level playing field must be protected. Title IX was designed to stop discrimination and create equal athletic opportunities for women. However, allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports reverses nearly 50 years of advancement for women. There are “‘[i]nherent differences’ between men and women,” and these differences “remain cause for celebration, but not for denigration of the members of either sex or for artificial constraints on an individual’s opportunity.” United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 533 (1996). These “inherent differences” range from hormonal differences to physiological differences. Having separate biologically-specific teams, which Title IX protects, furthers efforts to promote women’s equality. Biologically-specific teams accomplish this by providing opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their skill, strength, and athletic abilities while also providing them with opportunities to obtain recognition and accolades, college scholarships, and the numerous other long-term benefits that flow from success in athletic endeavors. We are introducing the Save Women’s Sports Act to protect opportunities for women and girls in athletics by ensuring women are not forced to compete against biological males playing on women’s sports teams. Please join us in protecting the advances in civil rights for women and consider co-sponsoring this important piece of legislation. |
Introduced as HB972