GOP Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed the “Save Women’s Sports Act” this week that prevents biological male athletes from competing against females. Republican governors in both Iowa and Arizona have signed similar legislation, as Townhall has covered.
In an interview with Fox News, Stitt said that he thinks the law is “common sense” and that “biological males cannot compete in women’s sports.”
“We’re not going to let it [biological males] be an unfair advantage against them [women],” he added.
The bill Stitt signed states that student-athletes must compete in sports that match their biological sex. This comes after the controversy surrounding biological male swimmer, William “Lia” Thomas, competed on the women’s swim team at University of Pennsylvania this season and won a race at the NCAA swimming championships.
"It's important for me to protect women and girls in sports," Stitt told Fox. "I've got a daughter that's going to be standing behind me, as well as a lot of other women and girls."
"They train and put their whole effort into competing and being the best that they can be," he added.
Female athletes who were present for the signing told Fox News that they were happy with the legislation protecting girls’ sports.
"It's no secret that there is a biological difference between males and females,” said Alyssa Amundsen, who is a former cheerleader for the University of Oklahoma. She added that “our predecessors worked so hard and had a huge victory with Title IX.”
"I think we owe it to them and we owe it to future generations of girls to pass this bill,” she continued.
A University of Oklahoma track and field athlete, Levi Gladd, told Fox that it’s unfair for women to have opportunities taken away “by biological things that they can’t deal with, or overcome.”
This month, two Republican governors vetoed bills protecting girls sports, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox and Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb. As Townhall covered, Utah lawmakers overturned Cox’s veto.
Stitt told Fox News that he is "happy to talk to any critics that are basically choosing to stand with someone else over women and sports.”
"In Oklahoma, we're inclusive of anybody and what is your life liberty and pursuit of happiness," the governor said. "We're not going to let a biological male compete against young women."