Federal Judge Blocks Law Protecting Women’s Sports in West Virginia
On Wednesday a federal judge temporarily blocked a West Virginia law that protects fairness in women’s sports.
West Virginia recently passed legislation that prevents biological males from competing in female athletics.
The judge’s preliminary injunction lets a biologically male runner compete in girls’ cross-country.
Over the past few years we have seen biological males dominate women’s athletics in some parts of the country.
Alliance Defending Freedom writes,
At the 2019 Connecticut Indoor Track & Field State Championships, Selina [Soule] finished one place away from qualifying for finals, and the opportunity to compete for a qualifying spot at the New England Regional Championships in the 55-meter dash. The first and second spots in the race were taken by two male athletes. This was a massive disappointment for Selina. It meant she had to sit on the sidelines instead of competing in front of college scouts!
Had those two biological boys not been allowed to compete, Selina could have qualified to run the 55-meter event at the New England regionals. The male who won Selina’s race set a girls’ state indoor record of 6.95 seconds in the 55-meter dash and went on to win the New England titles in both the 55-meter dash and the 300-meter dash.
Letting male athletes who claim to be female compete against women can be more than just unfair. In some cases, it actually can be dangerous.
As John Stonestreet at the Colson Center for Christian Worldview noted in 2016,
In a 2014 Mixed Martial Arts fight, a transgendered fighter, Fallon Fox, destroyed Tamikka Brents, giving Brents a concussion and breaking her eye socket. As Brents put it, “I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night.” She continued, “I’ve never felt so overpowered ever in my life” and “I’m an abnormally strong female in my own right.”
And mind you, Fox underwent reassignment surgery in 2006 and had been on hormone therapy ever since. In other words, Fox is as “transitioned” as a transgendered athlete can be, and still the competition was blatantly unfair.
Stories like these underscore why the Arkansas Legislature passed Act 461 of 2021 earlier this year.
This good law by Sen. Missy Irvin (R — Mountain View) and Rep. Sonia Barker (R — Smackover) prevents male student athletes from competing against girls in women’s athletics. The measure passed with strong support from legislators, and Governor Hutchinson signed it into law last March.
Act 461 is a good law that protects fairness in women’s sports at school in Arkansas. It is slated to take effect next week.
