Alabama Governor Signs Law Protecting Female K-12 Athletes, Bans Biological Males From Competing With Them

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has signed a bill into law banning biological males from competing against girls in K-12 school sports.

The bill, signed on Friday, says that “no public K-12 school may participate in, sponsor, or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender, unless the event specifically includes both biological genders.”

The law explains that “physical differences between biological males and biological females have long made separate and sex-specific sports teams important so that female athletes can have equal opportunities to compete in sports.”

“Physical advantages for biological males relevant to sports include, on average, a larger body size with more skeletal muscle mass, a lower percentage of body fat, and greater maximal delivery of anaerobic and aerobic energy than biological females,” the law states.

The law goes on to say that “even at young ages, biological males typically score higher than biological females on cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and speed and agility. These differences become more pronounced during and after puberty as biological males produce higher levels of testosterone. On average, biological male athletes are bigger, faster, stronger, and more physically powerful than their biological female counterparts. This results in a significant sports performance gap between the sexes.”

“Studies have shown that the benefits that natural testosterone provides to biological male athletes is not significantly diminished through the use of testosterone suppression. Testosterone suppression in biological males does not result in a level playing field between biological male and biological female athletes,” the bill continued.

The bill explained that because of these differences, having separate teams based on biological sex reduces the chance of injury to female athletes and promotes sex equality. It will allow young girls to compete among their peers and on a fair playing field for scholarships and other athletic accomplishments.

Girls will also be barred from competing in male sports “if there is a female team in [the specific] sport.”

 

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