New Mexico’s policies are failing to protect women’s spaces, but a majority of the state’s voters want that to change. 

A poll from early 2025 conducted by Independent Women’s Forum found 84% of New Mexicans agreed that men and women should be separated in athletic programs. Unfortunately, the state’s current leadership has not represented this majority opinion, instead passing radical policies to enshrine gender ideology into law. 

This week, Independent Women hosted an event in New Mexico to make sure the state’s parents and athletes know exactly what these policies mean for their families—and how they can advocate for changes that will ensure women’s spaces are protected. 

The “Her Game. Her Legacy.” event, which kicked off National Women’s Sports Week and commemorated the 53rd anniversary of Title IX, featured leading policymakers, including Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and female athletes on the frontlines for the fight to protect women’s sports. Afterwards, Independent Women set out on a bus tour to stop through New Mexico’s 33 counties and engage with families seeking to protect women’s spaces. 

Brianna Howard, ambassador and influencer manager for Independent Women, spoke with the families throughout the state and shared their goals to keep their daughters safe within their respective sports programs. 

“A dad was telling me just how proud he was of his daughter because she played sports in college, and it really changed her life,” Howard told IW Features. “He said it’s horrible to think that something could have happened to his daughter because of these reckless policies.’” 

Indeed, these reckless policies allow male athletes to participate in female athletics, putting women in harm’s way. New Mexico law also pushes harmful “gender-affirming care” interventions on minors regardless of parental directives. Both policies go against federal regulations enacted by the Trump administration, and more importantly both defy the basic biological reality that men and women are different. 

New Mexicans—along with most Americans—are tired of leftist ideology undermining biological truths and putting their children, especially their daughters, in harm’s way. It is time for the state government to return to common sense, reject gender ideology, and protect Title IX to ensure women’s sports and spaces remain only for women—not just for now, but permanently. 

Families all throughout New Mexico share this sentiment. 

“A mom who is the coach of her daughter’s softball team shared that she truly believed with all her heart women’s sports should be for women and stay for women,” Howard told IW Features.

And that is the intention behind Independent Women’s efforts in the state this week: to ensure that Title IX is used to protect women’s spaces rather than being manipulated by the Left to impose radical gender ideology. 

And as Independent Women fights with New Mexicans to call for policy change in their own state, the organization is similarly involved in advocating for better policies at the federal level. Just this week, for example, Independent Women’s Voice, the advocacy arm of Independent Women, celebrated the introduction of bicameral legislation by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY), which would designate June 22-28 as National Women’s Sports Week.

“Women’s sports have empowered generations of female athletes to compete, lead, and break barriers. National Women’s Sports Week is an opportunity to honor that legacy and recommit to protecting equal opportunities for women and girls under Title IX,” Tenney said in a statement. 

The question now is whether New Mexico leaders will join these efforts to recognize and empower women across the country, or whether they will continue to ignore the constituents, families, and parents who are seeking the protection of their daughters in locker rooms, playing fields, and athletic teams. 

“The general consensus is that celebrating female athletes is always worth it,” Howard said. “It’s not just about celebrating elite athletes this week. It’s recognizing every girl involved in sports is worth celebrating, from the Little League to the major league. It’s important to remember why we’re doing what we’re doing and what we’re fighting for—it is truly for the girls.”