Forty professional and Olympic athletes signed a letter in opposition to the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, which prohibits biological men from competing in women’s sports.
“If this bill passes, transgender and intersex girls and women throughout the country will be forced to sit on the sidelines, away from their peers and their communities,” the letter states.
“Furthermore, the policing of who can and cannot play school sports will very likely lead to the policing of the bodies of all girls, including cisgender girls. This will deter girls from participating in sports and create additional barriers,” the letter continues.
Athletes who signed the letter include Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn, Gwen Berry, and Sue Bird.
Reporting from the Daily Caller:
Athlete Ally Founder and Executive Director Hudson Taylor issued a response to the bill in March and accused it of being part of “an ongoing, coordinated national effort to erase transgender & intersex children from public life.” “Any policy that would apply the same standards to a child and a professional athlete is not a policy genuinely designed to protect anyone,” Taylor wrote. “It is my deepest hope that transgender & intersex kids will never have to feel the isolation, exclusion and othering that this legislation is seeking to enshrine in law.”
