DeSantis to Sign Bill Banning Biological Males From Girls' Sports
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said on Fox News that he plans to sign the state’s newly passed bill to ban males who identify as female from competing in girls’ sports.
The governor’s statement took place during a town hall event Friday night led by Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
When asked if DeSantis planned to sign the bill, he responded, “Oh, yes. We’re going to protect our girls.”
DeSantis added, “I have a 4-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old daughter, and they’re very athletic. And we want to have opportunities for our girls. They deserve an even playing field.
“And that’s what we’re doing, with what Mississippi did, with what Florida did, and I know what other states are going to do. So, I look forward to being able to sign that into law.”
The measure was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature on Wednesday.
The approved version of the bill noted, “Biological and scientific differences between males and females made it unfair for athletes born as boys to compete on teams for girls and women,” according to The Associated Press.
After her original bill stalled, state Republican Rep. Kaylee Tuck included the ban in a Senate bill about charter schools that passed largely along party lines, Florida Politics reported.
The bill would ban males who identify as female from competing in scholastic girls’ sports. The ban does not apply to elementary schools, nor does it prohibit females who identify as male from competing in boys’ sports, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
Not all lawmakers agreed with the measure. “The message that the bill sends is an ugly message of exclusion, telling trans kids that who they are is not OK and that they need to change who they are,” said Democratic Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, according to the AP.
Equality Florida called it the first “categorically discriminatory anti-LGBTQ bill” to pass in the state in 23 years, according to Axios.
Once DeSantis signs the bill, the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” will go into effect to keep transgender athletes from participating in girls’ sports beginning July 1.
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