Florida governor Ron DeSantis said Wednesday that he's indifferent to any response the NCAA may have to the bill he signed Tuesday that bans transgender girls from participating in female sporting events sponsored by public institutions.
On Tuesday DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1028, also known as the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, in Jacksonville. The bill bars trans-identified biological males who identify as female from competing in women’s and girls' sports offered by public institutions.
“Athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls may not be open to students of the male sex,” states SB 1028. “For purposes of this section, a statement of a student’s biological sex on the student’s official birth certificate is considered to have correctly stated the student’s biological sex at birth if the statement was filed at or near the time of the student’s birth.”
In response to these types of bills, the NCAA released a statement back in April saying it would consider pulling events from states that passed such legislation.
DeSantis on Wednesday said he was unmoved by the NCAA's stance on the matter.
“My view was throughout this whole time. We have to protect our girls. It is discriminatory to force them to compete against biological males,” DeSantis told Fox News' Tucker Carlson.
FL Gov Ron DeSantis signed a law banning trans female athletes from competing against biological girls in sports. He did this, he tells #TuckerCarlson, despite pressure from corporate interests. pic.twitter.com/6iSOCGvoF6
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 2, 2021
“And so if the price of having a tournament is that I have to deny equal opportunity to hundreds of thousands of young girl and women athletes throughout Florida, I am much more willing to stand with the girls. And to Hell with these events," DeSantis said, adding that he wants his two daughters and "every girl in Florida to compete on an even playing field for the opportunities available to young women in sports."
The Florida bill and others like it have seen strong opposition from LGBT advocacy groups. Lambda Legal, a prominent LGBTQ law firm, said it will fight the measures in court.
"The so-called 'Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,' like bills proposed in dozens of state legislatures across the country, actually promotes exclusion and discrimination against trans youth who deserve the opportunity to participate in sports like their peers," the firm wrote in a tweet.
