Alabama governor corrects ESPN’s report on transgender sports ban: ‘Let me clarify’

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey Calls Out ESPN for Reporting on Transgender Sports Ban

“Look, if you are a biological male, you are not going to be competing in women’s and girls’ sports in Alabama. It’s about fairness, plain and simple,” said Ivey.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) recently signed a transgender sports ban into law, which requires students at public schools and colleges to participate on the sports teams that align with their biological sex. However, ESPN’s reporting on the law has caused controversy.

ESPN noted that the law will ban “transgender women from playing on female sports teams in college.” Ivey took issue with the phrasing and tweeted, “Let me fix that, @espn. *Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban biological MEN from playing on FEMALE sports teams in college. #alpolitics.”

Expanding the Law

This is not the first time Ivey has signed a transgender sports ban into law. In 2021, she signed a law pertaining only to public K-12 schools. The latest bill expands this original law to apply to public colleges as well.

More than 20 states have similar policies, restricting students from playing on teams that do not align with their biological sex and are not explicitly co-ed. This is in an effort to protect women’s and girls’ sports, often pointing to biological advantages enjoyed by men.

The Biden Administration’s Response

The Biden administration attempted to push back against these laws, debuting a new Title IX rule last month which would disallow states from categorically banning biological men from participation in women’s sports. Instead, schools must decide “team eligibility criteria that serve important educational objectives, such as ensuring fairness in competition or preventing sports-related injury. These criteria would have to account for the sport, level of competition, and grade or education level to which they apply.”

States which defy this rule could risk losing federal funding. After receiving more than 240,000 comments during the public comment period, the administration delayed the rule until October in order to review them all.

Conclusion

While the debate over transgender sports bans continues, it is clear that Gov. Kay Ivey is committed to protecting the fairness of women’s and girls’ sports in Alabama.