Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered that controversial message on Tuesday when he signed the “Fairness In Women’s Sports Act” into law.
The measure, which has been heavily criticized by both Democrats and the NCAA, states that “athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex.”
DeSantis said the law ensures fairness for women athletes by basing a student’s biological sex on their birth certificate at the time of their birth.
That means transgender girls who were born male but now identify as female cannot compete in public high school or college women’s sports in the Sunshine State.
“We believe in the state of Florida of protecting the fairness and the integrity of women’s athletics,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Jacksonville. “We believe that it’s very important that the integrity of those competitions are preserved. That these opportunities are protected.”
The trans-athlete ban applies to public “interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic teams or sports.”
While the law bans biological males from participating in women’s sports, it does allow “students of the female sex” to compete in “athletic teams or sports designated for males, men, or boys.”
“We’re gonna go based off biology, not based off ideology when we’re doing sports,” DeSantis said.
The governor attempted to bolster his argument on Tuesday by showing short video clips of Terry Miller, a transgender girl and track star in Connecticut who’s b
The governor attempted to bolster his argument on Tuesday by showing short video clips of Terry Miller, a transgender girl and track star in Connecticut who’s been allowed to compete in women’s sports since 2017.
The footage showed Miller winning several sprinting races by a wide margin.
“You see in those races, you have all those girls who are competing, and it just wasn’t a level playing field,” DeSantis said.
een allowed to compete in women’s sports since 2017.
The footage showed Miller winning several sprinting races by a wide margin.
“You see in those races, you have all those girls who are competing, and it just wasn’t a level playing field,” DeSantis said.