More Republican-Led States Seek to Protect Women’s Sports

Lawmakers in Mississippi have passed a bill to ban biological males from competing against women in sports. Governor Tate Reeves is expected to sign the Mississippi Fairness Act into law.

Mississippi will be the second state with a “Save Women’s Sports” law. Idaho was the first state to act. In 2020, Governor Brad Little signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law, but a federal judge blocked it. The Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge David C. Nye said the law that protects the integrity of women’s sports is likely unconstitutional, and the issue hinges on whether the government requires males to take testosterone suppression drugs for a year before competing against women and girls.

The Tennessee Senate has passed a bill that would ban biological males from competing with women in sports. For purposes of participating in middle or high school sports, a student’s gender is based on his or her sex at birth.

Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, has said she will sign a similar bill that just passed the legislature.

Republicans in the U.S. Senate tried to protect women’s sports, despite knowing they didn’t have the votes. Lawmakers voted to amend the budget bill to bar funds made available under Title II to states and government educational institutions that allow biological males to compete with women in athletic programs or activity designated for women or girls. Save Women’s Sports noted that the amendment needed 60 votes but received 49 yeas, 50 nays, and one abstention.

As of this writing, 26 states (up from 23 last month) are trying to protect fair competition for women in sports.