‘It’s about fairness, plain and simple,’ Gov. Kay Ivey says
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday signed into law legislation that bans transgender women, who are biologically male, from competing in female athletic programs at state colleges and universities.
The law requires that students only participate on athletic teams consistent with their biological sex.
“Look, if you are a biological male, you are not going to be competing in women’s and girls’ sports in Alabama. It’s about fairness, plan and simple,” Ivey said in a news release announcing she signed HB 261.
Several other states are poised to pass similar laws this session, including in Texas, where the legislation sits on Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk awaiting his signature. North Carolina has a similar measure pending.
In Alabama, Ivey previously signed legislation in 2021 that banned biological boys from competing in K-12 girls sports, the release stated, adding “Alabama remains committed to protecting female athletes at all levels and upholding the integrity of athletics.”
The 2023 legislation states that “physical differences between biological males and biological females have long made separate and sex-specific sports teams important so that female athletes can have equal opportunities to compete in sports.”
“Studies have shown that the benefits that natural testosterone provides to biological male athletes is not significantly diminished through the use of testosterone suppression,” it adds. “Testosterone suppression in biological males does not result in a level playing field between biological male and biological female athletes.”
Christiana Kiefer, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, said in a news release Wednesday regarding Alabama extending the protections to higher education that a “college freshman losing a spot on the team to a male athlete is just as unfair and harmful as when it happens to a high school senior. That is why we must protect fairness for girls in all grade levels.”
As of June 2022, “a total of 18 states have protected female athletes in their states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia,” according to Save Girls Sports.
WATCH: Riley Gaines fights for female athletes
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