Family policy group launches 'Save Girls' Sports' campaign to preserve female athletics
A family advocacy organization is setting in motion a nationwide push to preserve female-only sports amid the rising trend of biological males who identify as transgender competing as though they are girls.
The Family Policy Alliance announced Monday that it was launching its “Save Girls’ Sports” campaign, an effort to build support for laws that ensure that only biological females can play in girls’ high school and university athletics.
"[M]en generally have higher cardiovascular capacity, greater bone density, and more muscle mass” than women, the campaign's new website notes.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
“Our girls deserve better than letting males compete in female-only competitions.”
The new campaign comes a few months after the state of Idaho adopted a new law prohibiting trans-identified males from participating in women's sports, the first state in the nation to do so. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming that it unjustly discriminated against trans-identified people.
The Save Girls' Sports campaign is advocating for other states to enact similar legislation.
"As a former runner and as mom to my infant daughter, I want every female athlete to have a level playing field for their sport. Unfortunately, girls today often are not guaranteed that opportunity in their state – despite the desire of many to have it," said Autumn Leva, vice president of strategy for Family Policy Alliance, in a statement sent to The Christian Post.
"Save Girls’ Sports is a celebration of female athletes, a recognition of their desire for a fair chance, and an opportunity to spread a positive message of fairness across our nation.”
The campaign includes a petition available to sign on its site, and an upcoming nationwide social media campaign during “Save Girls’ Sports Week,” which takes place later this month, from June 21-27.
June 23 is the 48th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, the federal statute that bars sex discrimination in the educational arena – including sports.
The U.S. Department of Education ruled late last month in a Connecticut case where the policy of the state athletic association permitted trans-identified males to play in girls’ sports that such an allowance was a violation of federal law.
Connecticut's policy has “denied female student-athletes athletic benefits and opportunities, including advancing to the finals in events, higher-level competitions, awards, medals, recognition, and the possibility of greater visibility to colleges and other benefits,” the ruling said.
The DOE ruling was not binding on a separate lawsuit that three female track athletes from Connecticut filed against the state's athletic association. They have had to compete for the past few years against trans-identifying males.
The attorneys for the girls motioned that the federal judge presiding over the case, Robert Chatigny of the U.S. District Court of Connecticut, be disqualified. They maintained that he cannot adjudicate the matter with fairness given how he, during an April 16 conference call, ordered them not to use the word "males" when addressing male athletes who identify as female, insisting they be called "transgender females."
The attorneys have stressed that to concede the language is to concede the case because their arguments cannot be accurately framed using words that do not communicate the biological basis on which the lawsuit rests.
