RICHMOND, VA — Today, Independent Women Ambassador Riley Gaines joined Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares for a press conference to champion the Women’s Sports Act in Virginia, which advocates for women’s and girls’ fairness, safety, privacy, and equal opportunity. The Stand with Women legislation, introduced by Virginia Delegate Delores Oates (HB 1809), which has a Senate companion (SB 749), introduced by Senator Tammy Brankley Mulchi, would maintain the integrity of women’s sports in Virginia by prohibiting males from competing on female-designated teams.

Delegate Mark Earley and current female athletes from the Roanoke College women’s swim team in Salem, Virginia also spoke at the press conference to highlight the importance of the Women’s Sports Act in Virginia. 

In 2023, Independent Women helped the female swimmers of Roanoke College break their silence after being intimidated and gaslit into allowing a male to join their Division III Women’s Swim Team. These brave young athletes came forward to ask Virginia lawmakers to pass legislation that would protect their privacy and safety in sports, which the Women’s Sports Act aims to do.

Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares said: “Virginia will never roll back Title IX under the guise of false equity. Together with Independent Women, Riley Gaines, and countless female athletes and leaders across our Commonwealth, we are united to save women’s sports. Let us stand firmly with every girl and woman in Virginia to protect fairness, ensure safety, and uphold the opportunities they have earned. Thank you to everyone here today for your unwavering dedication to this vital fight.”

Riley Gaines, an Independent Women ambassador, said: “Virginia is lucky to have Stand with Women champions in General Miyares, Delegate Oates, and Senator Brankley Mulchi. Early in this fight, their leadership was apparent and ever since, they’ve been fighting to advance legislation so female athletes like Roanoke’s Lily Mullens and her teammates won’t have to suffer in their own sport. It’s awesome to stand alongside the brave Roanoke College women’s swim team who was also forced to share a pool with a man and say ‘no more’! There is a tsunami of support to save women’s sports, and the leadership in Virginia is listening. Thank you for standing with women, and I hope to see this legislation pass swiftly.”

What Others Are Saying: 

Lily Mullens, an NCAA athlete and captain of the Roanoke College women’s swim team, who spoke out against a male joining their team after swimming on the men’s team the year prior, said: “Having leaders stand up for young girls and women through legislation means so much to my teammates and me, who didn’t have the same advocacy in our school. We were fortunate enough to get in contact with people who gave us the opportunity to speak up, and it was well worth it as we are seeing common sense begin to prevail across the country, hopefully soon in Virginia.”

Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor at Independent Women’s Law Center, said: “I applaud Attorney General Miyares in his unwavering commitment to restore the integrity of female sports. This common-sense legislation, the Women’s Sports Act, recognizes the innate differences between the sexes and protects young girls and women by keeping men out of girls’ sports. This legislation must pass to preserve fairness and ensure equal opportunity for future generations.”

Julie Gunlock, director of Independent Women’s Network, the national grassroots membership arm of Independent Women, said: “A women’s sport bill shouldn’t even be necessary, but I am grateful to leaders like Attorney General Jason Miyares, Delegate Delores Oates, Senator Tammy Brankley Mulchi, and many others, who are standing with women and girls across the Commonwealth. As a mother, I’m thrilled so many young female athletes are joining this fight. Virginia must follow suit with the national ruling striking down the illegal Title IX rewrite and protect women’s sports.”

Suzanne Satterfield, Independent Women’s Network Chapter Leader in Loudoun County, Virginia, said: “I am proud to support of HB1809 and SB749 which protects female athletes from having males playing on female designated teams and show Virginia athletes and parents that our state cares about their wellbeing and future. We know all too well in Loudoun County that girls have had sporting opportunities stolen from them by males. The damage to female athletes extends beyond the court and into the locker room as these males are also given full access to the girls locker room where their privacy is completely violated. It needs to stop and these bills ensure it does.”

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