Surrounded by female athletes in Jacksonville Tuesday morning, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced new protections in the Sunshine State for women's sports.
Through the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, biological girls will not be forced to compete against biological boys, causing them to miss out on scholarship opportunities and championship titles.
“We believe in the state of Florida of protecting the fairness and integrity of women’s athletics,” DeSantis said before signing the legislation. “I can tell you that in Florida, girls are going to play girls’ sports and boys are going to play boys’ sports. That's what we're doing and we're going to make sure that's the reality. The bill that we're doing will ensure fairness for women's athletes for years to come in Florida...we're going to go off of biology, not ideology.”
The Fairness in Women’s Sports Act will empower Florida women & girls to be able to compete on a level playing field. This will help ensure that opportunities for things like college scholarships will be protected for female athletes for years to come.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) June 1, 2021
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Alliance Defending Freedom, which is suing on behalf of female athletes in Connecticut, is applauding the move. ADF Legal Counsel Christiana Holcomb her client, Selina Soule, attended the signing. Soule spoke about her experience competing against male althetes.
"In 2017, Connecticut began allowing two male athletes who self-identify as girls to compete in girls’ sports. During all four years of high school, I was forced to compete against them, even though they were bigger, faster, and stronger than me because they were male," said Soule during remarks at the signing ceremony. "As someone who was one of the first to start speaking against this injustice, it is very encouraging that my story has reached people across the country, and that many have seen what’s happened in Connecticut and want to take a stand to protect the female athletes in their state and to protect women’s sports."
"I am grateful to Florida lawmakers, and especially Gov DeSantis, for preserving fairness in women’s sports and allowing countless young girls and women the opportunity to succeed in the sports that they love,” she continued.
Mississippi, West Virginia, Montana, Arkansas and Idaho have passed and implemented similar legislation to protect female athletes.