Kristi Noem, the Republican governor of South Dakota, told Newsmax on Friday that her state was leading the charge in defending women’s sports through Title IX protections.
Appearing on “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Noem said that female state lawmakers and officials are “all in” on ensuring that biological men cannot compete in gender-specific sports programs for women.
“I think overwhelmingly in South Dakota, because we’ve done so much work really educating people on why Title IX needs to be protected, they’re all in,” the governor explained.
“Our state is very populist, operates a lot on common sense,” she continued. “And because we communicate and talk about the why behind a policy, they all want their girls’ sports to be protected.”
Noem also shared that her Cabinet has faced some resistance in its support for women’s sports, noting that some “people try to turn it into something that’s about hate” toward male-to-female transgender people.
“It’s not that at all,” Noem emphasized. “And that’s why we have to work harder to make sure that they don’t twist it into something ugly.”
South Dakota implemented a ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports in February 2022, which covers kindergarten through high school, as well as accredited colleges and universities.
“This bill has been an important priority for a lot of the people behind me, and I appreciate all of their hard work in making sure that girls will always have the opportunity to play in girls’ sports in South Dakota and have an opportunity for a level playing field, for fairness, that gives them the chance to experience success,” Noem said as she signed the law.
Noem signed legislation a year later banning gender reassignment surgeries and hormonal therapies for minors.
* Article From: NewsMax