Arkansas is leading the way in protecting the rights of women in sports.
Governor Asa Hutchinson just signed a bill that will ban transgender athletes from women’s sports.
Hutchinson, who calls himself a fan of women’s sports, says he signed the bill in the interest of promoting and maintaining fairness for female athletes.
Democrats and LGBTQ groups have reacted with outrage.
Others recognize the victory this bill represents for young girls who are unfairly forced to play sports against larger and stronger biological males.
Daily Wire has the breaking news:
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law on Thursday a bill banning transgender female-identifying athletes from participating in women’s sports.
The new law, meant to preserve the integrity of female sports and protect girls and women from competing against biological males, comes amid a push by state legislatures to enact similar protections.
“Today, I have signed into law SB354, called the ‘Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.’ I have studied the law and heard from hundreds of constituents on this issue. I signed the law as a fan of women’s sports from basketball to soccer and including many others in which women compete successfully,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women’s competition. As I have stated previously, I agree with the intention of this law. This will help promote and maintain fairness in women’s sporting events.”
GOP lawmakers in at least 20 states have introduced similar legislation this year, according to The Associated Press. Such states are reportedly under pressure by activists and organizations such as the NCAA to avoid implementing such bans. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem recently declined to sign a similar bill and sent it back to the legislature to exempt college sports.
Earlier this week, a group of state representatives introduced similar legislation into the North Carolina General Assembly. The bill cites the “inherent differences between men and women” for banning biological males from women’s sports.
The Washington Examiner with more on the reaction from democrats and LGBT groups:
“This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women’s competition,” Hutchinson said in a statement as he signed the bill into law. “As I have stated previously, I agree with the intention of this law. This will help promote and maintain fairness in women’s sporting events.”
The law, which will go into effect this summer if not held up by legal challenges, applies to all students in kindergarten through college.
Democrats and LGBT groups have vocally opposed the signing of this bill, arguing that transgender students are being unfairly targeted.“It’s extremely hard to be a kid, and if you’re a transgender kid, your life’s even harder,” Democratic Rep. Tippi McCullough, the top Democrat in the Arkansas House and an openly gay woman, said before the vote. “Sports gives kids a place to belong, a place to be included, a place to succeed or learn to deal with setbacks and work to overcome them.”
Many liberals were triggered by this bill.
Most recognize that this bill is in the best interests of women themselves.
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