Washington, D.C. – Today, Concerned Women for America (CWA) of Texas Area Director Mary Smith and Macy Petty, NCAA volleyball player and spokeswoman for Young Women for America, the collegiate leadership program of CWA, joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the ceremonial signing of the  “Save Women’s Sports Act” at Texas Women’s University in Denton, Texas. 

The new law, which goes into effect in September,  protects the integrity of women’s sports by not allowing males “identifying” as women to compete on college women’s sports teams.

“We thank Gov. Abbott for standing on the side of collegiate female athletes. Not only is this victory about the protection of athletics, but it stands in truth that men and women are different. Thank you, Texas, for fighting back against the efforts to erase women and standing with us for all we have accomplished,” stated CWA of Texas Area Director Mary Smith.

“We are so grateful to Gov. Abbott and Texas legislators who recognize the damage caused to women who are forced to compete with biological males in sports,” says Petty. “The importance of this bill that applies to colleges cannot be understated. While the NCAA and some colleges have left female athletes behind, Texas has stepped in to restore dignity to their sports.

“Sadly, I have had to play against a man identifying as a woman at a volleyball tournament where college recruiters were present and the ball was slammed in our faces multiple times. When women are forced to compete against biological males, it ultimately strips them from scholarship opportunities and playing time in a college setting – an issue that was supposed to have been settled 50 years ago with the passage of Title IX.” 

“College women athletes have lost their opportunities, their trophies, and their dignity because the NCAA allows men who steal their status to compete in sports that should be for women only,” said Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee. “We know men are bigger, stronger, and have much greater heart and lung capacity leaving female athletes to face unfair competition and naked males in their locker rooms. Thank you, Texas, for understanding the unique dignity of women and taking action on their behalf.”

CWA has filed three discrimination complaints against colleges, including a civil rights complaint under Title IX against the University of Pennsylvania for allowing Lia Thomas, a biological male swimmer, to compete in the NCAA in women’s competition and have access to female athlete locker rooms.