Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday signed legislation that bans transgender athletes from playing on sports teams that match their gender identity. Photo courtesy of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott/
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June 16 (UPI) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed legislation banning transgender athletes from competing in collegiate sports designated for the sex that match their gender identity, in a move that critics call an attack against the southern state's LGBTQ community.
The Republican governor signed Senate Bill 15, also known as the Save Women's Sports Bill, Thursday during a press conference in which he said the legislation will "safeguard" the legacy of women's sports in the state.
"Women's sports are being threatened," he said as a group of former and current women athletes stood behind him.
"Some women are being forced to play against biological men. Women's college athletic teams are being threatened. College records that women set are being threatened. Women's sports, women's records, women's teams, women's dressing rooms -- all are jeopardized when men are allowed to compete for those teams, for those titles, for those records."
The legislation, which goes into effect in Sept. 1, reached Abbott's desk after passing the state's House 95-50 on May 17 and the state's Senate 19-12 on May 26.
It directs the Texas Higher Education Coordination Board to adopt rules that implement the change while creating a mechanism that allows people to seek injunctive relief against a public college or university that violates the new provision.
Abbott signed similar legislation in 2021 concerning Texas public schools.
The move comes as Republican-led states have been pushing legislation nationwide that critics describe as "anti-LGBTQ bills."
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, more than 491 such bills have been introduce this legislative session. And the Movement Advancement Project states that 22 states have so far banned transgender students from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
"This bill would invalidate trans experiences by forcing trans college athletes to compete on teams that do not align with their gender identity," Texas Freedom Network Vice President of Programs Marti Bier said in a statement Thursday after it was signed into law.
"Even as elected officials ignore their duty to serve Texans and instead target a vulnerable minority, create problems that do not exist and use our taxpayer dollars to do so -- transgender lives can never be erased. No matter what laws are passed by the extremists currently in power, our communities will find love and support within each other."
Early this month, Abbott signed legislation to ban gender-affirming care for minors in the state.
