Martina Navratilova speaks at 'Take Back Title IX' rally
Tennis legend Martina Navratilova speaks at an Independent Women's Forum event about the vitriol she receives from those on the left about protecting sex-based spaces.
Female athletes just scored a big legal "W." A federal district court in Missouri ruled to immediately halt the Biden-Harris administration’s illegal attempt to rewrite Title IX, a federal law designed to create equal opportunities for students in education and athletics, while a lawsuit I’m a part of proceeds.
This is the fifth such injunction issued across the country, and it’s very good news for me, a female high school basketball player from Arkansas, and others like me.
Sports have always been a big part of my world, and it wasn’t long before I discovered a particular passion for basketball. I remember spending hours playing with our Little Tykes basketball set in our driveway, and by kindergarten I was playing organized sports. Now, I compete on the senior high girls’ basketball team at Brookland High School.
Demonstrators cheer during the "Our Bodies, Our Sports" rally for the 50th anniversary of Title IX at Freedom Plaza on June 23, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The five starting positions on the court are highly coveted and competitive. I’m practicing and training all year: sacrificing sleep, hanging out with friends in the evening, eating dinner with my family, or going on vacations. But I love it. I love the adrenaline rush and fast pace. I love the satisfaction of making a shot or stealing the basketball. And, most of all, I love to win.
Government officials, however, are trying to make it more difficult for me and my teammates to notch victories. They’re trying to change the very federal law that allows girls like us to compete in athletics.
Right now, the president’s administration is attempting to redefine "sex" in federal law to include "gender identity," a seemingly small word change that could threaten girls’ safety and fairness at school.
The federal government wants to allow males to compete in girls’ sports, which will create unfair competition in girls’ sports and will cause girls like me to lose – especially in contact sports like basketball. So, in the spring, I joined Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and five other state attorneys general in suing the administration for attempting to change Title IX to serve its own political agenda.
Males playing in girls’ sports violates our rights as females to have fair play and not to be displaced by males. We should be able to play against other girls and not be forced to compete against males with inherent biological advantages that could lead to them injuring us.
BIDEN’S WOKE TITLE IX RULE IS SO INSANE, IT FORCES KIDS AND TEACHERS TO LIE
If we girls lose our sports to males, I fear that it won’t stop there. We could also lose our scholarships and college opportunities to males. I fear that girls might stop trying out for sports if they know they must compete against males.
I’m also concerned that the new rule will force me to speak and express ideas that I disagree with and that violate my religious beliefs. I also worry that I might be punished for expressing my own views.
Based on my religious beliefs and biological reality, I believe there are only two sexes, that a boy can’t become a girl, and that a girl can’t become a boy. To follow those beliefs, I only use pronouns consistent with others’ sex, not their gender identity, or I would be lying and communicating that it’s OK for people to live contrary to their sex.
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I don’t want to be forced to lie about what I know is true and to violate my faith convictions.
I also want to use the female-designated restrooms, showers and locker rooms at my school, to share hotel rooms only with females during overnight trips with my school, and to feel safe knowing that boys who identify as girls are not allowed to use these areas.
I am proud of my home state of Arkansas for standing up for women’s rights and passing a law to protect female athletes from being forced to compete against males. Thankfully, with the recent district court ruling, six states are protected from the federal government’s bullying of states like Arkansas and the administration’s determination to rewrite Title IX to serve its own political interests.
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Four other courts have also halted the administration’s unlawful actions. Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, who represent me and many other female athletes, have filed a total of five different lawsuits across the country, and now five courts have issued injunctions against the administration.
I’m hopeful that government officials will listen to our stories and value biological reality, common sense and truth. I urge policymakers and school administrators to stand up in defense of Title IX – to preserve this vital, equal opportunity law for the next generation of girls so that they, too, can have the chance to discover a sport they love.