Women had to fight for decades in order to achieve equal access to sports. Prior to the passage of Title IX in the 1970’s, girls and women were excluded from most competitive athletic opportunities in schools and there were relatively few female sports programs in comparison to boys and men. Not uncommonly, sports programs for girls and women were recreational and informal instead of competitive.
That changed when Federal Title IX regulations were issued, requiring that schools and colleges who received Federal funds must provide equal opportunities regardless of sex. With Title IX, the rights of girls and women to play and compete in sports were protected by law. Yet, that is all at risk once again now.
Over the last few years, trans-identifying male athletes have been allowed to play on female teams across the country. This has led to an erosion of girls’ and women’s access to competitive sports. Males are physiologically stronger and more powerful than females, and that does not change much even with the use of cross-sex hormones. So, when males are allowed to compete against women, the women often end up on the losing end. This is resulting in girls and women being displaced in sports teams, scholarship opportunities, and athletic competitions.
It is clearly unfair for girls and women to have to compete against boys and men, but the problems do not stop there. It’s not safe for girls and women to play against boys and men in sports. Ignoring biological reality puts girls and women at risk of severe injury. For instance, high schooler Payton McNabb in North Carolina suffered severe brain and neck injuries after a transgender athlete spiked a volleyball into her face. Payton has suffered long-term effects from her injuries, including partial paralysis, impaired vision, learning disabilities, constant headaches, and depression. Other female athletes have also been injured when forced to play against males.
A poll of registered NM voters found that 94% of New Mexicans oppose biological males being able to share locker rooms with girls and 84% of New Mexicans oppose boys playing in girls' sports. To that end, Republican lawmakers recently introduced Bill HB185 to ensure that girls’ and women’s rights to single-sex sports are protected. The Bill was heard in the NM House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee on February 13th.
As a mother of two teens, I watched the hearing with hopes of seeing our legislators take action to protect girls’ and women’s sports. I am sick of party politics, and I hoped to see both Democrat and Republican lawmakers find common ground in standing up for the rights of women and girls. Payton McNabb testified to share her experience of suffering a serious brain injury when forced to play volleyball against a biological male. Additionally, the poll results were shared with the committee, showing that New Mexicans are overwhelmingly in favor of single sex sports for girls and women.
Nonetheless, Representative Andrea Romero stated that, “Trans women are women, and their rights to participate in sports should be protected.” Ultimately, the committee voted to table (kill) the Bill on party lines: Democrat Representatives Joanne Ferrary, Angelica Rubio, Andrea Romero, & Elizabeth "Liz" Thomson voted to table the Bill, while Republican Representatives John Block and Stefani Lord voted against tabling the Bill.
It was frustrating to see that this issue is being treated as a Democrats-vs-Republicans issue, when it is really a women’s rights issue. Trans-identifying athletes need to compete against their own biological sex, both for fairness and safety. Yet our Democrat-led legislature has chosen to politicize this issue and has turned its back on the girls and women of New Mexico.
You can watch Payton’s testimony and the hearing vote here: https://tinyurl.com/nmhb185
Payton McNabb at the HB 185 hearing.
