Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced Thursday that he would be signing a bill that bars transgender athletes from women’s sports teams after both the state House and Senate passed the legislation.
“I will sign our bill to protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities,” Reeves tweeted. “It’s crazy we have to address it, but the Biden E.O. forced the issue. Adults? That’s on them. But the push for kids to adopt transgenderism is just wrong.”
I will sign our bill to protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities.
It’s crazy we have to address it, but the Biden E.O. forced the issue. Adults? That’s on them. But the push for kids to adopt transgenderism is just wrong. https://t.co/sncpaPlTbZ
— Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) March 4, 2021
The state House voted 81-28 on Wednesday to pass the bill, while the Republican-controlled Senate passed it Feb. 11, according to CBS News.
“Athletic teams or sports designated for ‘females,’ ‘women’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the legislative text reads.
The bill will also ban any “government entity,” accredited institution or “any athletic association or organization” from entertaining any complaints, opening any investigations or taking any action against education institutions “for maintaining separate interscholastic or intramural athletic teams or sports for students of the female sex.”
The Human Rights Campaign criticized the passage of the bill.
“We are witnessing a coordinated effort to limit and erase trans existence across the country.”
BREAKING: Mississippi just passed SB 2536, an anti-trans sports bill, becoming the first state in the nation to pass an explicitly anti-trans bill in 2021.
We are witnessing a coordinated effort to limit and erase trans existence across the country.
— Human Rights Campaign (@HRC) March 3, 2021
In another tweet, the Human Rights Campaign compared the fight for marriage equality to the sports debate.
“First it was the sanctity of marriage. Now it is the sanctity of sports. These are made up problems to divide our country against LGBTQ people.”
President Joe Biden signed an executive order on his first day in office that said “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”
Biden had also previously pledged to sign the Equality Act, which word force public schools to allow biological males who identify as transgender females into athletics.
The order sparked backlash, including from Reeves who said he was “disappointed” in the order. (RELATED: TALCOTT: The Transgender Athlete Debate Forces Us To Make A Choice. Both Are Unfair)
“I am so disappointed over President Biden’s actions to force young girls like them to compete with biological males for access to athletics. It will limit opportunity for so many competitors like my daughters. It is bad policy and it is wrong for America.”
“I just don’t understand why politicians are pushing children into transgenderism in the first place. I certainly don’t understand why the President chose to make it a priority in his first days. And my heart breaks for the young women across America who will lose in this radical social experiment.”
Christiana Holcomb, legal counsel for the Alliance Defending Freedom told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the policy will “eviscerate legal protection for women and roll back nearly 50 years of gains for women.”
Author Abigail Shrier said the order placed a “new glass ceiling” on girls.
On day 1, Biden unilaterally eviscerates women’s sports. Any educational institution that receives federal funding must admit biologically-male athletes to women’s teams, women’s scholarships, etc.
A new glass ceiling was just placed over girls.https://t.co/cGWZqDpxl8
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) January 21, 2021
Independent Women’s Forum also decried the move in a tweet.
Every time a transgender woman secures a spot on an elite women’s team or wins a scholarship reserved for female athletes, a biological female loses an opportunity. #SaveWomensSports #IWregs #BidenErasedWomen https://t.co/NjFwSdxxpS
— Independent Women’s Forum (@IWF) January 21, 2021