300 SW 10th, Room 333-E | Topeka, KS 66612
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - April 13, 2021
Senate Republicans Won't Back Down in
Defense of Fairness in Women's Sports
Topeka, KS (April 13, 2021) – Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson and Senator Renee Erickson, the leading advocate for the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act in the Senate, issued the following joint statement regarding the need to stand strong in support of legislation enacting fairness in women’s sports, even amid extreme rhetoric from the radical left and threats from the NCAA:
 
“A strong majority of the Senate demonstrated it is deeply concerned with protecting fairness in women’s sports with the passage of SB 55 last week on a vote of 26-11. The legislation sets well-established physiological guidelines to maintain a level playing field for women that they have fought so long to achieve.
 
“Unfortunately, during the debate on the bill, a few senators sunk to unprecedented levels of unrelated vitriol in their attempt to derail the bill, accusing their colleagues of attempting to “score points” by “finding new ways to persecute people.” Even worse, another statement implied actual lives would be lost due to the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. This type of highly-charged rhetoric has no place in civil debate. 
 
“Now the NCAA, who was wrong on Title IX when it was first proposed, is using all-too-familiar bullying tactics to try to coerce states against doing the right thing by vowing to withdraw championship events from states that pass laws preventing discrimination against women. It is astonishing that they acknowledge in their own statement there would be a need for hormone “suppression treatments” to make an attempt at fairness, while at the same time justly prohibiting performance-enhancing drugs to “protect the health of college athletes and to ensure fair play.”

“Republicans in the Kansas Senate will not cower in the face of such intimidation and inflammatory rhetoric. We will not back down in defense of fairness in women’s sports. We will not sell out decades of progress by women for a few days of a basketball tournament. We will continue to engage in this debate with scientific facts, civility, and respect.”
 
Passage of bills such as SB 55 have become necessary to preserve the incredible gains and access women have achieved in athletics, and to protect against discrimination and ensure an equal playing field for biological females. SB 55 passed both the Senate and House with large majorities and will soon be on the governor’s desk.
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