Crapo, Risch, Tuberville Advocate for Female Athletes

Washington D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo, Jim Risch (both R-Idaho) and Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) introduced the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which will preserve Title IX protections for female athletes and protect fair, safe competition in women’s sports across the country.  This legislation would counteract the Biden Administration’s plans to finalize rules in May that will force institutions to allow biological males to share spaces with females and compete in women’s sports. 

“The protections provided to women and girls by Title IX are being challenged by the Left’s radical ideologies,” said Crapo.  “America’s female athletes deserve respect, fairness and safety in their chosen activities without the threat of being sidelined by biological males competing in women’s sports.”

“Life isn’t fair, but sports should be.  There are physical differences between men and women, boys and girls, and a failure to acknowledge these differences in sport competition creates an unfair disadvantage to women and girls.  Through the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, Congress can ensure female athletes can safely compete on a level playing field,” said Risch.

 “Throughout my coaching career, I saw the incomparable success of Title IX and the educational and personal opportunities sports have provided to millions of female athletes,” said Tuberville.  “For more than 50 years, this law has empowered young women to grow personally, compete professionally, and receive scholarships to further their education.  The positive impacts of a fair playing field in women’s sports are unmatched, but the Biden administration is forcing female athletes to the sidelines by allowing biological males to compete where they do not belong.  It’s unfair, it’s unsafe, and it’s wrong.  We cannot stand by and let girls and women in sports lose to the radical left’s agenda.  I am proud to introduce this legislation, and will continue fighting to preserve a level playing field for all current and future female athletes.”

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act:

• Ensures Title IX provisions treat gender as “recognized based solely on a person’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
• Bans recipients of federal funding from operating, sponsoring, or facilitating athletic programs that permit a male to participate in a women’s sporting event.

Joining the Senators in introducing this legislation are U.S. Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah), James Lankford (R-Oklahoma), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-Kansas), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Josh Hawley (R-Missouri).

The Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act has been endorsed by the Independent Women’s Forum, Concerned Women for America and Heritage Action for America.