VINELAND, N.J. – The First Legislative District GOP delegation has introduced legislation to protect girls’ sports in New Jersey.
If it is ever passed by the legislature and signed into law – an unlikely feat with Democrats in charge in Trenton – the “Fairness In Women’s Sports Act” would compel students to participate in school-sanctioned sports based upon their biological sex at birth as opposed to “gender identity” or any other subjective classification.
–
“I think we all realize there is nothing fair about any of this,” said State Senator Mike Testa (R-1) who is sponsoring the bill in the upper chamber. “Unfortunately, life and sports are constrained by rules. For the sake of athletes born female who have practiced and worked hard and invested sweat in the sports they love, this bill will secure a fair and level playing field.”
As an amendment to the Civil Rights Act in 1972, Title IX prohibits sex-based discrimination. Critics of the creep of transgender ideology into youth, high school, and college sports are worried about competition. They’re also concerned that an imbalance is now inevitable in the scholarship distribution between female and male athletes.
On his first day in office, President Biden signed an executive order insisting that “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the rest room, the locker room, or school sports. . . . All persons should receive equal treatment under the law, no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation.”
The current policy of the The New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association provides that “transgender student is eligible to play sports consistent with either their birth sex or their gender identity, but not both.”
The LD1 legislators strongly disagree. They say it’s a straightforward civil rights issue.
“We cannot ignore the physiological makeup of the human body,” said Assemblyman Erik Simonsen who is co-sponsoring a companion measure in the Assembly. “Female and male bodies are structurally different. Those before us fought long, difficult battles in order to get Title IX recognized and signed as a Civil Rights Law.”
“Athletes, coaches and supporters fought long and hard to earn respect for women’s sports, money to fund scholastic and collegiate teams, and professional opportunities in the WNBA and pro soccer,” added Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, Simonsen’s co-sponsor and the NJGOP’s only current black legislator. “We need to defend women’s rights and take steps to preserve decades of work on behalf of female competitors.”
–
