Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a bill into law Tuesday that protects women’s sports by prohibiting transgender females from participating in girls’ or women’s athletic competition.
In short, the Sunshine State is supporting biological science, which recognizes that males are generally larger, faster and stronger than females.
However, the Human Rights Campaign (or HRC, same as the initials of a failed 2008 and 2016 presidential candidate) vowed that it would file a lawsuit against the governor, alleging ''discriminatory intent.''
Florida isn’t the first state to approve such a bill. Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee passed similar measures, and in March, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order banning biological males from competing in female sports.
Louisiana lawmakers sent a similar provision to Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards last week. Each chamber of the Legislature appears to have sufficient votes to override the governor’s likely veto of the bill.
All told, more than three-fifths of the state legislatures have either approved or have advanced similar bills protecting girls’ and women’s sports, but Florida’s DeSantis is the first governor HRC has announced plans to sue.
''This upcoming lawsuit in Florida to be filed by the Human Rights Campaign comes amid a rash of anti-transgender sports ban legislation being taken up and passed in states across the country,'' the organization said in a statement.
So why Florida? It turns out the timing of the governor’s signature may have played a role.
''Today's bill signing by Governor DeSantis took place on the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month and within 12 days of the anniversary of the Pulse shooting in Orlando, Florida,'' HRC’s statement continued.
The first day of Pride Month? Most people would call it the first day of June.
Some might say the position of California gubernatorial hopeful Caitlyn Jenner, who’s a transgender female herself, is as confusing as her own sexual identity.
While still going by the name of Bruce, Jenner crushed the competition at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal to take home the gold in the decathlon.
Shortly after transitioning as a woman, she said transgender females should be allowed the opportunity to compete in sports against biological females.
She reversed that position when she announced her candidacy for governor, running as a Republican. In early May she told TMZ that she opposed "biological boys who are trans competing in girls' sports in school."
Jenner reasoned that, ''It just isn't fair. And we have to protect girls' sports in our schools.''
She appeared to flip again in late May, claiming that if elected governor, she would establish a commission whose job would be to distinguish ''trans women, who are truly trans,'' from those who aren’t, and allow those ''truly trans women'' to compete.
However, women who actually have to compete against biological males in athletic competition aren’t so wishy-washy on the issue.
Three Connecticut female high school athletes and their mothers filed a lawsuit in February against the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC), claiming its policy of allowing biological males to compete in girls’ sports violates Title IX, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex.
The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represents the plaintiffs, and said CIAC's policy "robs female athletes of opportunities because of the physical advantages of males.''
"Girls deserve to compete on a level playing field," ADF attorney Christiana Holcomb said in a statement. "Forcing them to compete against boys isn't fair, shatters their dreams, and destroys their athletic opportunities.''
With the COVID-postponed 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games right around the corner, one athlete in particular is coming under scrutiny — New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, who was born in 1978 as Gavin Hubbard.
Hubbard took up the sport in 1998 and did well competing as a male until his early 30s, which is to be expected. The weightlifter’s career got a huge boost when Gavin became Laurel in 2012, and Laurel began breaking women’s records left and right. Imagine that!
The International Olympic Committee adjudged that Laurel should be given the chance to compete in the upcoming games as a 40-something woman, a decision that Belgian Olympic female weightlifter Anna Van Bellinghen calls a ''bad joke.''
She said, ''Life-changing opportunities are missed for some athletes — medals and Olympic qualifications — and we are powerless.''
Van Bellinghen added, ''I do believe that everyone should have access to sports, but not at the expense of others.''
Liberals the world over say ''follow the science'' until the science gets in the way of political correctness, on their race to be more woke.
But they’re crushing the dreams of female athletes in the process, destroying the opportunity for recognition and the reward of athletic scholarships, and turning girls’ and women’s sports into a ''bad joke.''
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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