Yellowhammer Times

Gov. Kay Ivey (R-Ala.) said a bill she signed last week prohibits men from competing on women's collegiate sports teams, in response to an ESPN tweet saying the bill would place a prohibition on "transgender women."

"Let me fix that, @espn. *Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban biological MEN from playing on FEMALE sports teams in college,” Ivey tweeted in response to ESPN.

The Twitter exchange followed the bill passing Alabama's House by a vote of 83-5 and passing the state Senate by a vote of 26-4. Ivey then signed it, ESPN reported. 

Soon after the bill was signed, ESPN tweeted: "Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban transgender women from playing on female sports teams in college. This expands the state’s existing ban on transgender athletes on K-12 sports teams.” 

Ivey opposes men participating in women’s sports, saying it puts women at an unfair disadvantage in terms of winning the game or events.

"I just signed HB261 to protect women’s sports in public colleges and universities,” Ivey tweeted soon after she signed the bill Tuesday. “If you’re a biological male, you are not going to be competing in women’s and girl’s sports in Alabama. It’s about fairness, plain and simple."

Ivey signed a bill in 2021 requiring K-12 athletes to participate in sports teams that correspond with their biological sex, ESPN reported. 

More than 20 states across the country have enacted legislation to prevent biological males from competing on women's sports teams, either at the K-12 or collegiate levels or both. 

Carmarion Anderson-Harvey, Alabama state director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), an LGBT+ advocacy group, said in the ESPN report that Ivey and her "extremist" Republican colleagues "are making Alabama an increasingly hostile place" for people who believe their gender identity differs from their biological sex.