Fairness in girls’ sports deserves more than political posturing – Daily News

As a mother and the representative for California’s 71st Assembly District, I introduced Assembly Bill 89 because I believe every young woman deserves a fair shot—not a rigged system.

Girls shouldn’t have to train their hearts out only to be pushed aside by policies that ignore basic biological differences. AB 89 wasn’t radical—it was rooted in reality. And it was about one thing: protecting fairness in girls’ sports.

But that message was lost on my colleagues in the Assembly’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism Committee. They voted down AB 89 along party lines, choosing politics over principle. Instead of debating the bill in good faith, one member went so far as to compare it to policies from Nazi Germany. That comparison wasn’t just wrong—it was outrageous, offensive, and a slap in the face to every woman who has fought for equality in athletics.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is tasked with ensuring equity in high school sports, but its current policies fall flat. Let’s be honest—biological differences matter in competitive sports. Muscle mass, lung capacity, and bone structure don’t just disappear with hormone treatments. Ignoring these differences isn’t progressive—it’s regressive. It creates a playing field that’s anything but level.

AB 89 would have required CIF to reserve girls’ teams for biological females. This idea has nothing to do with discrimination; rather, it’s about common sense. When girls are forced to compete against biological males, they lose more than races. They lose scholarships. They lose titles. They lose opportunities that Title IX was created to protect.