LEXINGTON, KY – In preparation for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear two challenges to Save Girls’ Sports laws (Little v Hecox & West Virginia v B.P.J.), The Family Foundation, over 200 female state legislators, including 13 from Kentucky, and 37 other state Family Policy Councils signed onto an amicus “friend of the court” brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of Save Girls’ Sports laws. All of these legislators and organizations have authored, sponsored, introduced, supported, or advocated legislation defining eligibility for women’s sports based on biological criteria. The Family Foundation and many of the female legislators previously signed onto a brief last year asking the Supreme Court to take these cases.
The Supreme Court will determine whether Save Girls’ Sports Laws violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and Title IX. Kentucky, and a majority of states, have passed legislation prohibiting biological males from participating in girls’ sports. The KY General Assembly passed TFF-supported SB 83 in 2022, which was authored by Sen. Robby Mills and championed in the House by Rep. Ryan Dotson. The General Assembly overwhelmingly passed the legislation with bipartisan support and then overrode Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of the bill.
You can read the brief here.
Statement from David Walls, Executive Director of The Family Foundation:
“It’s time to end the war on women and biology once and for all. We urge the Supreme Court to rule in favor of Save Girls’ Sports laws and ensure that biological males can no longer steal championships and opportunities from female athletes. Sound reason and basic biology make it clear that men have no place in women’s sports, and the U.S. Constitution does not prevent States from affirming that truth.
“We are thankful to the Kentucky General Assembly for taking decisive action to protect girls’ sports in 2022 and for the 13 female legislators that joined this important brief. Thanks to their action and to the brave advocacy of female athletes like UK’s Riley Gaines, girls’ sports in Kentucky is reserved exclusively for females. I pray that this important case will continue the progress that is being made to dismantle the radical gender ideology that is harming women and out entire culture,” Walls concluded.
The brief argues, “There is no serious dispute that, with respect to athletic competitions, women and men ‘are not similarly situated’—and that the relevant difference turns on biology, not on an individual’s interior sense of gender. Therefore, there can be nothing invidious or untoward about defining eligibility for women’s sports based on the former rather than the latter.”
The thirteen Kentucky female legislators who joined the brief are: Rep. Emily Callaway, Rep. Jennifer Decker, Rep. Kim Holloway, Rep. Mary Beth Imes, Rep. Savannah Maddox, Rep. Candy Massaroni, Rep. Kimberly Poore Moser, Rep. Marianne Proctor, Rep. Felicia Rabourn, Rep. Nancy Tate, Sen. Amanda Mays Bledsoe, Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, and Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer. The Family Foundation would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the Kentucky legislators who partnered with us in joining this important brief.
###
The Family Foundation is the leading Christian public policy organization in Kentucky and stands for Kentucky families and the Biblical values that make them strong. Learn more at kentuckyfamily.org.