Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed a law this week that prevents biological male athletes from competing against females.
Speaking with Fox News, Stitt explained his reasoning behind signing the “Save Women’s Sports Act.”
“Biological males cannot compete in women’s sports,” Stitt said. “We’re not going to let it be an unfair advantage against them. I just think it’s common sense.”
“It’s important for me to protect women and girls in sports,” the Republican governor added. “I’ve got a daughter that’s going to be standing behind me, as well as a lot of other women and girls. They train and put their whole effort into competing and being the best that they can be.”
Female athletes who were present for the signing told reporters that they were happy with the legislation protecting girls’ sports.
“It’s no secret that there is a biological difference between males and females,” said Alyssa Amundsen, a former cheerleader for the University of Oklahoma. “Our predecessors worked so hard and had a huge victory with Title IX. I think we owe it to them and we owe it to future generations of girls to pass this bill.”
The bill states that student-athletes must compete in sports that match their biological sex. A dozen other states such as Iowa and Arizona have signed similar laws.
This comes after biological male swimmer, William “Lia” Thomas, competed on the women’s swim team at the University of Pennsylvania this season and won a race recently at the NCAA 500-yard freestyle championship.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday denounced Thomas as the winner of the championship, saying Emma Weyant, who came in second, should’ve won instead.
“She earned that. We need to honor that appropriately,” DeSantis told reporters of Weyant. “The NCAA is basically takings efforts to destroy women’s athletics.”
The Florida governor said that the NCAA is undermining “the integrity of the competition” and Thomas’ victory sends a wrong signal to women.
Last year, DeSantis also signed a law that banned transgender athletes from joining female teams.
“I can tell you this: in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports, and boys are going to play boys’ sports,” he said after signing the bill. “That’s what we’re doing, and we’re going to make sure that that’s the reality.”
