In a move targeting the Left’s optional reality, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson signed a bill on Thursday banning biological men who identify as women from participating in school sports.
As the Daily Caller reported:
Hutchinson signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” after it was passed by the State House earlier this week, KAIT. Earlier in March, Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a similar bill into law, sparking nationwide controversy on the topic of whether transgender women can participate in women’s sports.
The bill was met with fierce criticism when it was introduced, with critics arguing that it puts transgender Arkansas residents at risk, KAIT reported. Shortly after the bill was signed, Governor Hutchinson issued a press statement through his website defending his decision.
“This law simply says that female athletes should not have to compete in a sport against a student of the male sex when the sport is designed for women’s competition,” the statement read, adding that the bill will “promote and maintain” fairness in women’s sports.
That biological men hold an advantage over women in sports is a fact so obvious only a liberal could ignore it. It’s the reason we segregate sports by gender in the first place, after all.
NEW: Gov. @AsaHutchinson has signed SB 354 into law – the Fairness in Women's Sports Act bans transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams in Arkansas. #arnews #arpx @KATVNews pic.twitter.com/ig8IihsKxb
— Marine Glisovic KATV (@KATVMarine) March 25, 2021
This comes after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has come under fire for rejecting a similar bill, saying that she believed the language was too vague and needed to be reworked. It was an odd excuse, given that when the bill (HB 1217) was passed by the state’s legislature earlier in the month, Noem tweeted that she was excited to sign it.
In South Dakota, we're celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women's sports! I'm excited to sign this bill very soon. https://t.co/OU15HOwp2r
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 8, 2021
The real reason Noem reversed seems to be due to the NCAA threatening to pull sports from the state if the bill were signed into law. “Competing on the national stage means compliance with the national governing bodies that oversee collegiate athletics,” she tweeted, later adding, “While I certainly do not always agree with the actions these sanctioning bodies take, I understand that collegiate athletics requires such a system – a fifty-state patchwork is not workable.”
Defending her decision during a tense appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show, Noem said that she’d be building a coalition of states big enough “where the NCAA cannot possibly punish us all.” It’s questionable whether such a coalition would be needed, as over a dozen states have proposed similar laws. Them all being passed independently would have the same effect as a “coalition of states.”
Of the NCAA, Gov. Hutchinson said “I certainly will want to listen to any concerns by others if there is any NCAA issues, I certainly would like to know about that,” days before signing the bill. Either he didn’t hear any concerns, or was simply unwilling to cave to pressure.
Matt Palumbo is the author of Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and de Blasio Ruined New York, Debunk This: Shattering Liberal Lies, and Spygate
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