Texas Governor Greg Abbott has just signed a new law preventing biological males from competing in female sports, fixing a problem in previous legislation that provided a birth certificate loophole:
DAILY CALLER – Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation Monday completely banning biological boys from competing on girls sports teams — and vice versa.
The legislation prohibits transgender athletes from playing on public school sports teams that align with their gender identity rather than biological sex. The law will take effect in January and applies to all public schools, including universities.
The state previously prohibited transgender athletes from participating on sports teams that aligned with their gender identity but allowed for exceptions if the student legally changed their birth certificate, according to the Texas Tribune. The new legislation removes that option.
Republican State Rep. Valoree Swanson, who sponsored the bill, said during a committee hearing it’s “very important that we protect everything that women have gained in the last 50 years,” according to the Texas Tribune.
I’m glad that they not only signed this new law protecting female sports, but also fixed that loophole that was in the previous legislation.
As always, I fully expect this law to be challenged in the courts as Democrats try and stop the law from going into effect. While they might win in lower courts with some activist judge, I don’t think they’ll get very far as the case moves into appeals. The 5th circuit there has been making some good decisions lately and hopefully that trend continues.