BOSTON, MA — Today, Independent Women celebrates State Senator Ryan Fattman’s (R-Worcester and Hampden) leadership in introducing the Fairness and Safety in School Sports bill (S.D. 627) in Massachusetts. Policy Analyst and Massachusetts resident Neeraja Deshpande joined a press conference to champion the legislation, which advocates for women’s and girls’ fairness, safety, privacy, and equal athletic opportunity. The Stand with Women legislation was introduced after female athletes in the Commonwealth suffered immeasurable harm at the hands of failed policies to allow men to compete on women’s teams. The bill would maintain the integrity of women’s sports in Massachusetts by prohibiting males from competing on female-designated teams.
Without single-sex teams and single-sex competition, men dominate women in competitive sports and threaten women’s safety. In Lowell, Massachusetts, for instance, a six-foot-tall male player competing on the girls’ basketball team injured a female player and eventually forced the Collegiate Charter School to forfeit. In Dighton-Rehoboth, a shot from a male player caused significant facial and dental injuries to a female field hockey player, who ended up in the hospital. The high school eventually forfeited a game to avoid a male player on the opposing team. Countless other stories across the country have shown the harms of allowing men in women’s sports.
Allowing males to participate in women’s sports is discriminatory, and it undermines years of progress that ensured the integrity of women’s sports and sex equality under Title IX. The Fairness and Safety in School Sports legislation in Massachusetts aims to restore protections for women and keep women’s sports female.
This bill reflects national bipartisan consensus. Almost 80% of Americans respect the biological differences of the sexes and believe that males should not be allowed to compete in women’s sports.
Senator Fattman’s introduction follows national pro-woman momentum, safeguarding single-sex sports, including bipartisan support in the U.S. House for the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and the Department of Education’s restoration of the original meaning of Title IX nationwide.
Sen. Ryan Fattman said: “I’m extremely proud to introduce S.D.627, An act to ensure safety and fairness in school sports. If passed, this bill will ensure that no female athlete is forced into the unfair and unsafe situation of competing against biological men. Recently at Dighton-Rehoboth, we saw a female athlete badly injured by an opposing male player. It’s past time to take action and protect our girls. As a father and a former student-athlete, I want to ensure that both my daughter and my sons will have fair and competitive athletic experiences. Equal athletic opportunity is impossible when women are forced to compete against men. I will fight for this legislation until we see its passage because it’s the right thing to do.”
Neeraja Deshpande, policy analyst for Independent Women and Massachusetts resident, said: “From all of us at Independent Women, we thank Senator Fattman for introducing this common-sense legislation to ensure equal athletic opportunity for the over 3.5 million women and girls in the Commonwealth. We urge Massachusetts to follow suit with the 26 other states that have stood with women and saved women’s sports.”
Beth Parlato, senior legal advisor for Independent Women, said: “Senator Fattman’s ‘Fairness and Safety in School Sports’ bill protects women and girls against sex discrimination and safeguards them from the horrific incidents female athletes in Massachusetts have suffered due to inaction at the state level. This bill reflects national consensus and momentum on this issue and appropriately recognizes that equality is not a game and women deserve safe and fair competitions.”
If passed and signed into law, the Fairness and Safety in School Sports would ensure Massachusetts follows the 26 states that already have protections for female sports.
###