I grew up and played high sports (‘76-‘80) just after Title 9 became law (‘72). I benefited because girls’ volleyball was introduced as a winter sport which parallels boys wrestling because of Title 9. I tried basketball and track, neither of which I was very good at, but did excel with volleyball. I developed a sense of teamwork, leadership, friendship with many people, respect for authority, and confidence that carried me well into college and my professional life as an engineer. Not only were these personal skills critical but the physical skills for staying in shape have lasted throughout my lifetime (I’m now 59). My two daughters also played sports in their school years and I would echo the same benefits for them. They are now 27 and 24. I cannot fathom how allowing biological boys on girls’ teams would have enabled fairness in the sport or development of the skills aforementioned. Allowing them in the locker room would have been detrimental and shocking to say the least. It is proven that males who even take estrogen to minimize their maleness still have a physical advantage which makes the playing field uneven. To take away from deserving girls their college scholarships is another source of inequality. Because I am passionate about this, I have been writing my state legislators in TN and the sponsors and committee members driving HB03 forward which will ban biological males from competing in girls’ sports. I’m happy to have read the TN Senate passed the bill yesterday, and hopefully soon our Gov. Lee will sign it into law. Likewise, I have been posting and encouraging people to not sit back and complain but rather write their state legislators. We must mobilize around this to protect the future of women’s sports.

This submission has been lightly edited for clarity.