California Republican introduces bill to prevent males from competing in female sports

California Assemblymember Kate Sanchez, R-Sacramento, introduced a bill that would ban biological males from competing in women’s sports.

Assembly Bill (AB) 89, also known as the Protect Girls’ Sports Act, would make the California Interscholastic Federation “amend its constitution, bylaws, and policies to prohibit a pupil whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls’ interscholastic sports team.”

Sanchez’s bill seeks to change California’s AB 1266, which has been on the books for 12 years.

This law states that the state public schools cannot discriminate on the basis of “gender, gender identity, and gender expression.”

Furthermore, Sanchez's bill says that people must be allowed to participate in “sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions” that correspond with their gender identity.

In announcing the bill, Sanchez said fairness in women’s sports is being “stripped away.”

“When biological men are allowed to compete in women’s sports, it creates an unfair playing field. Young women who had spent years training, sacrificing and earning their place to compete at the highest level are now being forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages,” Sanchez said. “It’s not just unfair. It’s disheartening and dangerous.”

Furthermore, Sanchez said this is about “safety” for girls.

“Whether it's in contact sports, locker rooms, or shared spaces, these policies place our daughters at risk. We cannot ignore the physical and emotional toll that this takes,” she added.

Sanchez said it is “time to restore integrity back to women’s athletics and ensure that every young woman has a fair and safe chance to compete.”

California is one of 24 states that allow biological males to compete in women’s sports, according to Cal Matters.

In November 2024, two female athletes sued Riverside Unified School District after their high school allegedly gave preferential treatment to a transgender athlete.

“The plaintiffs argue that the school’s selective enforcement of dress codes and failure to uphold Title IX policies violate their constitutional rights and place female athletes at an unfair disadvantage,” according to an Advocates of Faith and Freedom news release.

Also, California is home to San Jose State University, where the school allowed Blair Fleming, a biological male, to compete on the women’s volleyball team.

Five teams that competed against the university forfeited their games in protest of Fleming being on the team.

In November 2024, co-captain of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team, Brooke Slusser, joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports.

The non-profit Independent Women's Forum restarted a letter campaign to ask the NCAA to keep men out of women’s college sports last month, The Center Square reported.

According to a Gallup poll in 2023, 69% of Americans said transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.