FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 29, 2020
Contact: Doreen Denny, Vice President of Government Relations, (202)420-1491, ddenny@cwfa.org

Washington, D.C. – Today, Concerned Women for America (CWA) joined partners in the fight to Save Women’s Sports supporting a letter to the NCAA Board of Governors signed by over 300 current and former NCAA and professional female athletes, including Olympians, urging them not to bow to activism requesting retaliatory action against Idaho for protecting fair play in women’s sports for female athletes.   Idaho enacted the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which is being defended in federal court by two female college track athletes who were forced to compete against a biological male athlete in the women’s category.

Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, had this to say:

“It’s time for the NCAA to stand up for female athletes, not sideline their dreams.  NCAA’s black eye in women’s sports will only get darker if it retaliates against Idaho for protecting the innate status of female athletes.  Sex discrimination against women and girls has no place on fair and level playing fields.

 “Female NCAA, professional, and Olympic athletes who signed this letter speak for all women and girls across America who simply want to compete against other female athletes. This is what Title IX achieved over 40 years ago.  The NCAA has no business overturning that victory by promoting inequity in women’s athletics.

“This is not a left or right issue.  Women and girls, regardless of political affiliation, deserve to have the laws that protect us respected and followed, ensuring equal opportunities and benefits in sports for all female athletes.”

Concerned Women for America has stood at the forefront of the fight to protect equal opportunity for female athletes in women’s sports.  CWA has filed two civil rights complaints with the U.S. Department of Education at the college level against Franklin Pierce University (for winning a national NCAA title in the 400-meter women’s hurdles in 2019) and the University of Montana (for winning the NCAA Big Sky Conference indoor mile in women’s track in 2020).  Both victories involved biological male athletes who had previously competed on the men’s teams.

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Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee (CWALAC) is the legislation and advocacy arm of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization with a rich 40-year history of helping our members across the country bring Biblical principles into all levels of public policy.