Governor Greg Abbott signed the “Save Women’s Sports” bill in Texas on Thursday. The law requires college athletes in Texas to compete in sports that align with the sex they were assigned at birth.. It is an expansion of a 2021 law that banned transgender students in K-12 Texas school districts and some charter schools in the same way.

Abbott rightfully said the bill is designed to protect female athletes from unfair competition. “Women’s sports are being threatened. Some women are being forced to compete against biological men,” he said during a signing event Thursday.

The new law, which takes effect September 1, allows individuals to sue institutions that allow trans athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity.

Limiting transgender athletes’ – particularly transgender women’s – ability to compete on sports teams that align with their gender identity has become a growing focus for some Republicans, with Alabama enacting restrictions last month, and the US House passing a similar ban in April.

Proponents of such restrictions have argued transgender women have a physical advantage over cisgender women, and that the regulations give female athletes equal opportunities to compete. However, there is little research on trans collegiate athletes. A 2017 report in the journal Sports Medicine found “no direct or consistent research” on trans people having an athletic advantage over their cisgender counterparts.

It’s hard to believe anyone denying the advantage of trans athletes in competition against women athletes. How many competitions have we seen reports on where the male who now identifies as a female is allowed to compete as a female competitor and ends up winning the competition, usually by a solid lead. That’s because men and women are physically different – duh – and men are stronger and faster than women. That’s a generalization but it is usually the case. Lea Thomas demanded to be taken seriously in college competition and was allowed to compete as a woman. Thomas is noticeably taller and more muscular than the real women competitors. And Thomas wins the competitions.

Riley Gaines gets it. She’s lived it. She congratulated Governor Abbott for signing the bill.

Thank you, @Riley_Gaines_.

Proud of your bravery in advocating for the protection of women's sports.

With the law I signed today, Texas will ensure collegiate sports give women an opportunity to thrive for generations to come. pic.twitter.com/kqHHoFnAvE

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 15, 2023

Let the critics squawk about it and call Republicans names. It is far more important to protect women’s sports than it is to worry about criticism from the far-left who fundraise on the divisions they help create between groups of people.

“SB 15 is yet another harmful attack from anti-LGBTQ lawmakers on transgender Texans’ right to be embraced, accepted, and able to thrive — particularly in Texas’ public universities and colleges,” said Marti Bier with the Texas Freedom Network, which lobbies against conservative legislation and policies affecting education.

The new law comes after Abbott signed a ban on gender-affirming care for most minors in the state earlier this month, making Texas the largest state in the US to place restrictions on transgender youth’s access to critical care.

Kindly take a seat, Texas Freedom Network.

Governor Abbott is not discriminating against transgender people. He is protecting women and women’s sports. Remember when Title IX was a big deal and women were allowed to play sports, especially at the college level? Sports scholarships help women go to college, same as male athletes. It boils down to a matter of fairness.

This is the new war on women. It encourages the elimination of women in high school and college sports to act as though a transgender athlete is the same as a real woman athlete. It is crazy to pretend everything is fine when clearly the winner of the competition is determined before it ever begins. It is the ultimate cancellation. Liberals may buy into the propagandists that explain that women are not really women, they are birthing people. It’s an insult that they reduce women to their body parts.

Medical intervention doesn’t change a person’s chromosomes that they were born with. Legit biology is still out there, despite the junk science being pushed on regular Americans that boys can become girls and girls can become boys. What’s next? Don’t answer that.

People have to unite and say that this has to stop. If people are silent, it will be the end of women’s sports. The years of battle over Title IX will have been for nothing. Where are the feminists now? Cowering in the corner, too afraid to go against the transgenders who are making these demands as though they are entitled to them?

Governor Abbott is speaking out, as are other red state governors.

The law creates an avenue for “injunctive relief” against public higher education institutions and college sports teams in Texas that violate the rules, and it would prohibit universities from retaliating against anyone for reporting violations. The law also would allow women to compete against men in college sports if a corresponding women’s team is not offered or available.

When potentially competing against out-of-state schools whose teams may have transgender athletes, university officials will need to make their own decisions, Abbott said Thursday.

This law is a good continuation of the previous law passed for K-12 schools. Stop the madness. Let girls compete with other girls. Fair is fair.

In 2021, I signed a law protecting the integrity of girls’ sports in K-12.

I pledged to expand that protection at the collegiate level in the next legislative session.

Today, I will sign that protection into law.

Tune in live: https://t.co/rmFb1eHMdK pic.twitter.com/sRdhRW2Yys

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 15, 2023

Collegiate sports help young women thrive, learn valuable life skills, & achieve their dreams.

Allowing biological men to compete against them threatens this pathway for young women to succeed.

Today, I signed the Save Women's Sports Act to safeguard women's collegiate sports. pic.twitter.com/tDncfbHBbH

— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 15, 2023