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May 31 (UPI) -- It is now illegal for Alabama public higher education institutions to allow transgender people to participate in sports that do not correspond with the gender they were assigned at birth, according to a new law. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law on Tuesday, which adds onto previous legislation from 2021 that makes athletes at the K-12 level participate in sports that align with the gender they were assigned at birth.
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"Look, if you are a biological male, you are not going to be competing in women's and girls' sports in Alabama," Ivey said in a statement. "It's about fairness, plain and simple."
The Human Rights Campaign condemned the state's new law on Tuesday.
"By signing HB 261 into law, Governor Ivey is actively taking part in the systematic attack against LGBTQ+ people," Human Rights Campaign Alabama State Director Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey said in a statement. "From dictating what bathrooms we can use to blatantly ignoring the actual problems in women's sports, these politicians are making Alabama an increasingly hostile place for transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole."
A court challenge blocked an Alabama law passed last year that would make it a crime for doctors or parents to approve gender-affirming medical care to minors. The state also banned transgender people from using bathrooms corresponding to the gender they identify with.
