Sage’s Law and Protect Female Sports Pass First Test!
Sparks flew this morning in the Capitol as two critical pieces of legislation cleared their first hurdle to becoming law. HB 1387, the “Fairness in Female Sports” bill, would ensure that biological sex is the basis for organizing all K-12 and collegiate sports teams, and HB 2432, “Sage’s Law,” would require schools to inform parents if a child is identifying as another gender and would prohibit parents from being labeled “abusive” for affirming their child’s biological sex.
Fairness in Female Sports
Early this morning the House Education Subcommittee on Higher Education approved Del. Karen Greenhalgh’s (R-Virginia Beach) HB1387 – “Fairness in Female Sports” bill.
Among those offering testimony in support of HB 1387 was three-time NCAA Championships qualifier, and a U.S. Olympic Trial qualifier, Riley Gaines. When Riley discovered she would compete at the 2022 NCAA swimming championships against a 6’4” biological male who had competed for the prior three years on the University of Pennsylvania’s men’s swim team, she was stunned. When she tied Thomas, she was told there was only one trophy for one swimmer, and that Thomas would hold the trophy for pictures.
According to Ms. Gaines, “In addition to being forced to give up our awards, our titles, and our opportunities, the NCAA forced female swimmers to share a locker room with Thomas, a 6’4” 22-year-old male equipped with (and exposing) male genitalia. Let me be clear: we were not forewarned. We were not asked for our consent. And we did not give our consent. If nothing else, I truly hope you can see how this is a violation of our right to privacy and how some of us have felt uncomfortable, embarrassed, and even traumatized by the experience.”
Despite this testimony, Del. Eileen Filler-Corn emphatically claimed that this bill was a “solution in search of a problem.” In a moment of pure irony, while pretending Riley Gaines’ situation didn’t exist, Del. Filler-Corn spoke to the transgender individuals who had testified that she “sees them.” Filler-Corn further insisted that this bill was simply about one group of people being mean to another. Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond) incredibly described people in support of protecting female sports as “small-minded” and “hateful” people who pick on others.
Following those outrageous comments, Chairman Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) had to rein in the committee and pointed out that name-calling by legislative members violates civility protocol.
Sage’s Law
Later in the morning, the House Education subcommittee for K-12 education approved HB 2432 “Sage’s Law,” brought by Del. Dave LaRock (R-Loudoun).
Offering testimony was Michele Blair, whose daughter, Sage, was rescued with help from the Founding Freedoms Law Center from a mental facility that was seeking to “transition” her 15 year-old daughter to a male, and did not want to give her back to her parents. “Please don’t let ideology harm another child,” Blair pleaded. “Let parents do our jobs. We know our children best, and we love them a million times more.” You can watch her compelling testimony HERE.
Dr. Julia Mason of the Society for Evidence Based Gender Medicine asserted that “concealing a gender transition from the parents is not in the best interests of the child. It sets up the parents as the enemy. And the online spaces where kids congregate already set up the parents as an enemy. This is a normal stance of adolescence—opposition to parents—and we don’t need anything to enhance that.”
After a wide array of compelling and rational testimony from parental rights groups and experts in law and counseling, and thoughtful questions from Delegates Tara Durant and John McGuire, the radical LGBTQ activists were visibly furious with all the truth-telling permeating the room.
You can watch the full hearing by clicking on the image below.
You can read more about Sage’s horrific story of being sex-trafficked and kept from her parents for over a year in a recent Federalist article: Virginia Teen Sex-Trafficked Twice After School Hides Gender Identity From Her Parents Virginia Teen Sex-Trafficked Twice After School Hides Gender Identity From Her Parents.
Next Stage
With both bills being approved by their respective subcommittees, they now move on to the full House Education committee for consideration.
