Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed a new law placing limits on transgender athletes in Lone Star State colleges that will require athletes to play only in categories that correspond to their gender at birth.
The law, Senate Bill 15, called the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” will bar men claiming to be women from playing college sports as a woman, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
“Women’s sports are being threatened,” Abbott said during the bill ceremony. “Women in Texas can be assured that the integrity of their sports will be protected in Texas.”
Transgender woman Lia Thomas (L) of the University of Pennsylvania stands on the podium after winning the 500-yard freestyle as other medalists (L-R) Emma Weyant, Erica Sullivan, and Brooke Forde pose for a photo at the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championship on March 17, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
The law also prevents schools from retaliating against whistleblowers or those who protest against transgender athletes and sets rules to punish schools that violate the law. However, the law does allow women to play in the men’s category if there is no corresponding woman’s program at any particular school.
Jeri Shanteau, an All-American swimmer at Auburn University, attended the signing ceremony because she feels allowing men to compete against women is unfair.
“We need to make sure we are protecting female sports,” Shanteau said. “Texas needs to be an example.”
The American-Statesman added that the bill was signed into law just as the State of Texas filed a lawsuit against the federal government over its abuse of Title IX rules promulgating the radical transgender agenda.
Biden’s rules change — called a “guidance” — threatens to cut off federal funding to any school that bars transgender athletes from choosing their own categories in which to compete.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a screening of the film “Flamin’ Hot” on the South Lawn of the White House on June 15, 2023, in Washington, DC. The movie tells the story of Richard Montanez, a janitor at Frito-Lay who claimed to have created the recipe for Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, which turned the snack into a global phenomenon. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
But the Texas AG notes that this “guidance” is discriminatory against states such as Texas.
“The guidance risks federal education funding for Texas colleges and universities as well as all Texas K-12 schools receiving any amount of federal funding by unlawfully asserting that these conceptions promoted by the extremist transgender movement are covered by Title IX protections,” the AG’s office said in a statement.
“Under this doctrine, Texas schools would be investigated by the federal government for following Texas law,” the statement said.
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