Girls Sports

‘Everyday Americans’ Honored at Address to Congress

First lady Melania Trump invited “everyday Americans as special guests” to President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.

Several guests had ties to family issues that are important to Focus on the Family, such as God’s design of humans as male and female; saving girls sports, serving children in the foster care system; and protecting parents’ rights to direct the educational upbringing of their children.

Attendees included family members of victims of violence, a mom whose parental rights were assailed by her daughter’s school, a young lady who had been a foster child, and a steelworker who, along with his wife, provided “a loving home to dozens of foster children.”

In addition, a few “surprise guests” attended the speech, including Jason Hartley, a young man was just accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and 13-year-old D.J. Daniel, who was diagnosed with brain cancer at age seven. D.J. was made an honorary law enforcement officer of several police departments; Secret Service Director Sean Curran made him an agent of the U.S. Secret Service during the speech.

Here are three of the “everyday Americans” honored by the president and first lady involved in issues we care about.  

Payton McNabb – Athlete’s story demonstrates why we should respect the distinctions between male and female.  

The Independent Women’s Forum, where Payton serves as an ambassador, described how McNabb was injured by a transgender-identified male in a volleyball game her senior year of high school:

On September 1, 2022, during a volleyball game against a rival North Carolina high school, 17-year-old Payton McNabb received a devastating head and neck injury as the result of a spike by a male athlete who identified as transgender. …

The blow left her unconscious, and “the ball’s impact caused neurological impairments including a concussion, vision problems, and partial paralysis to the right side of her body.”

In a White House video posted on X, McNabb said she still deals with these health issues today.

The president told Payton that because of an executive order protecting girls and women’s sports, “From now on, schools will kick the men off the girls team or they will lose all federal funding.

Jeff Denard – Hardworking father and his wife generously give time and love to children in foster care.

Melania Trump described Denard, saying, “Jeff has spent nearly three decades working at a steel plant owned by Nucor Steel. His good paying, middle class job at the steel plant has allowed Jeff to serve as volunteer firefighter, provide a loving home to dozens of foster children, and organize his fellow steelworkers to respond to natural disasters, including Hurricane Helene.”

In a post on X, Denard said he and his wife, Nicole, have been married for 25 years and have seven children. He explained their work in foster care, saying,

“My wife and I are also ranch managers of the Circle Ranch, out in Danvill, Alabama. We have about 38 children on-site. We have been fostering now for about three years and have had about 41 children through our homes.”

“We are so blessed. God’s been so good to us that we’re able to do this.”

The Circle Ranch defines its purpose:

Our mission is to provide a stable, supportive, and Christ-centered environment for these children and their foster families, as well as to equip and empower them for a successful future. We believe that every child deserves a chance to grow up in a family environment that reflects the love of God.

The ranch also serves as “a hub for other foster, adoptive, or kinship families in North Alabama,” adding, “Our aim is to create a network of support and resources for all the families who are involved in this noble and challenging calling.”

January Littlejohn – Mom’s story exposes threats to parental rights in education.

Almost five years ago, January and Jeffrey Littlejohn filed a lawsuit against the Leon County School Board for violating their parental rights by secretly affirming their daughter, who was only 13 years old at the time, in her gender confusion, as the Daily Citizen reported.

Three staff members met with the girl and developed a “Transgender/Non-Conforming Student Support Plan.” The staff asked the girl how she wanted to be identified, what pronouns to use when speaking about her, whether she wanted to use the girls or boys bathroom, and whether she felt more comfortable rooming with boys or girls on overnight trips – all without her parents’ knowledge or consent.

In a video on X describing what happened to their daughter, Littlejohn explained the damage inflicted on their daughter, saying, “We learned that the school had socially transitioned our daughter, where they asked her questions that would have absolutely impacted her safety and had harmful impacts on her psychological and physical well-being.”

She said that the school’s tactics were designed “to effectively deceive parents like us that these social transition plans ever happen.”

The first lady’s announcement about Littlejohn’s invitation described the harms from hiding information from parents, “The school drove a wedge between January’s daughter and her parents, and deceived January about their covert plan to transition her daughter.”

Related Articles and Resources

‘Equipping Parents For Back-To-School’ – Updated Resource Empowers Parents

Florida Parents Sue School for Helping Teen ‘Transition’ – Without Their Knowledge or Consent

Male and Female Biology Matters

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

What’s Your School District’s ‘Transgender’ Policy?

Yet Another Man Steals Women’s Trophies

Foundational Values

Resources: Foster Care and Adoption

Wait No More

Yet Another Man Steals Women’s Trophies

A biological man won the 400- and 200-meter dash at the USA Track and Field Open Masters Championships on Saturday, beating out women as young as 14 years old.

Sadie, formerly Camden, Schreiner, is no stranger to taking trophies from female athletes. The 21-year-old has broken numerous school and competition records since he began competing as a woman in 2023.

President Trump’s executive order prohibiting men in federally funded education programs from competing in women’s sports will prevent Schreiner from competing on the Rochester Institute of Technology’s track team.

But the order doesn’t apply to private organizations like USA Track and Field (USATF).

USATF abides by the International Olympic Committee’s rules, which allows men to compete in some women’s sports if they meet low testosterone thresholds. Schreiner claims estrogen injections have rendered his testosterone levels “undetectable.”

It hasn’t impacted his success. In the 200-meter, Schreiner beat 14-year-old Zwange Edwards, 16-year-old Zariah Hargrove, 15-year-old Leah Walker and 18-year-old Ainsley Rausch. At least four other athletes scheduled to race in this category did not participate. Schreiner’s only two competitors in the 400-meter, 17-year-old Anna Vidolova and 16-year-old Amaris Hiatt, were similarly absent.

It’s unclear whether the missing athletes declined to compete against a man or missed the races for other reasons.

On his Instagram page, Schreiner defended his participation in women’s track and field by arguing estrogen injections had worsened his performance enough to be “equitable.”

As an 18-year-old man, Schreiner’s fastest time in the 400-meter put him in the 87th percentile of all male runners his age. As a 21-year-old “woman,” his fastest time puts him in the 87th percentile of all female runners his age. This similarity in relative performance, he argues, should qualify him to compete against women.

Estrogen may have slowed Schreiner down, but it hasn’t changed his biological makeup. Men’s bodies are better suited to running fast, with more ergonomic bone structure, higher bone density, larger lung capacity and a more efficient vascular system.  

These biological advantages can’t be changed or negated. That means, if Schreiner were truly a woman, he would be performing much worse.

No matter how you slice it, the fact remains — a man handicapped by estrogen injections does not a women make.

It’s not an intellectually difficult argument, but, somehow, this author has a hard time believing the USATF will jump to protect female athletes anytime soon.

Additional Articles and Resources

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

NCAA Ban on Men in Women’s Sports ‘Toothless,’ Say Advocates, Gaines

Olympic Women’s Boxing Champ is Officially a Man

Shoving Girls Off the Podium: More Male Athletes Participating in Girls Sports

Olympic Privilege? Officials Protect Women’s Sports — But Only at the Highest Level

Male and Female Biology Matters

New Study: Testosterone Blockers and Female Hormones Don’t Erase Male-Female Athletic Differences

Iowa Governor Signs Bill ‘That Safeguards the Rights of Women and Girls’

After contentious hearings and demonstrations at the Iowa Capitol, Governor Kim Reynolds signed a law protecting girls’ and women’s rights.

The new law, Senate File 418, defines “sex” in Iowa statutes as “the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth.” The measure also removes “gender identity” from nondiscrimination laws.

As legislators were considering the bill, transgender-identified protestors and their allies flooded the state Capitol, reported the Des Moines Register. “More than 2,000 LGBTQ rights supporters chanted, shouted and jeered in protest as House and Senate lawmakers passed the bill, sending it to Reynolds’ desk.”

The Gazette, a news outlet in Cedar Rapids, posted videos and photos from the protests. Protestors carried signs with the usual transgender slogans, such as “Trans Rights Are Human Rights” and “I’d rather have a TRANS daughter than a DEAD daughter.”

Here you can see some opponents of the bill singing, “We are singing, singing for our lives.”

The bill, of course, doesn’t take the lives or civil rights of transgender-identified people. Gender confused Iowans have all the same rights as other Iowans.

Adding spurious internal or socio-political identities, like “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” (SOGI), to non-discrimination laws harms those who disagree with these sexual ideologies. Such legislation is based on the idea that a person’s identity is defined by sexual attractions, thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

As we’ve previously written in the Daily Citizen, SOGI laws, policies and regulations affect freedom of speech, parental rights, religious freedom, girls sports and the basic privacy, safety and dignity of women and men. 

Something is not a “civil right” if it threatens or strips others of their civil rights, which is what SOGI nondiscrimination laws do.

The Iowa House passed the measure with a vote of 60-36, while the Senate passed the bill with a vote of 33-15.

In a video and press statement about SF 418, Reynolds said, “Today, I am signing into law a bill that safeguards the rights of women and girls.”

“It is common sense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it is necessary to secure genuine equal protection for women and girls.”

The protections were necessary, the governor said, because the state’s “Civil Rights Code blurred the biological line between the sexes” and “forced Iowa taxpayers to pay for gender reassignment surgeries.”

The bill protects women in sex-segregated spaces and activities, the governor explained, saying:

It is why we have men and women’s bathrooms, but not men and women’s conference rooms; girls’ and boys’ sports, but not girls’ math and boys’ math; separate men and women’s prisons, but not different laws for men and women. It is about the biological differences, and that is all.

It is also why Iowa has enacted laws protecting girls’ sports for girls and women’s private spaces like bathrooms and locker rooms.

She added that all people deserve “respect and dignity, concluding her statement by saying, “What this bill does accomplish is to strengthen protections for women and girls, and I believe that is the right thing to do.”

In addition to defining “sex,” here are some of the other definitions from SF 418 which will be used in state statutes:

  • Female – means an individual who has, had, will have through the course of normal development, or would have but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, a reproductive system that at some point produces ova.
  • Male – means an individual who has, had, will have through the course of normal development, or would have but for a developmental anomaly, genetic anomaly, or accident, a reproductive system that at some point produces sperm.
  • “Woman” or “girl” refers to a female.
  • “Man” or “boy” refers to a male.
  • “Gender,” when used alone in reference to males, females, or the natural differences between males and females shall be considered a synonym for sex and shall not be considered a synonym or shorthand expression for gender identity, experienced gender, gender expression, or gender role.
  • The term “equal” does not mean “same” or “identical.”

The bill makes allowances for those with “a medically verifiable diagnosis of disorder or difference of sex development.” It allows for sex-segregated spaces in locker rooms, restrooms, prisons and shelters, and it forbids schools from promoting or instructing kindergarten through sixth grade students about sexual orientation or gender theory.

Related Articles and Resources:

Are Sex and Gender Different Things?

Department of Education Launches Multiple Investigations Into Title IX Violations

Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Dear Colleague Letter

Kansas Legislature Enacts ‘Help Not Harm’ Legislation, Overriding Governor’s Veto

Transgender Resources

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

What Are Male and Female in God’s Story?

Why a Trans Woman is a Not a Woman

Image from Shutterstock.

Senate Set to Vote on Bill that Protects Women’s Sports

The Senate is expected to vote Monday on the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” legislation reintroduced last month by Senator Tommy Tuberville and designed to make permanent President Trump’s executive order banning men from competing in women’s sports.

The House of Representatives passed similar legislation in January; all Republicans voted for the bill, along with Texas Democrats Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez.

“Common sense should tell us that women and girls shouldn’t be forced to compete in sports or share a school locker room with biological males,” said Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma. “Although the Biden Administration fought to erase biological differences, I want to uphold equal opportunity for the next generation of female athletes.”

Senator Tuberville echoed Senator Lankford, saying, “President Trump ran on the issue of saving women’s sports and won in a landslide.”

He added,

70% of Americans agree — men don’t belong in women’s sports or locker rooms. I have said many times that I think Title IX is one of the best things to come out of Washington. But in the last few years, it has been destroyed. While I’m glad that the Biden administration ultimately rescinded the proposed rule, Congress has to ensure this never happens again. I am welcoming my first granddaughter this spring and won’t stop fighting until her rights to fairly compete are protected. I hope every one of my colleagues will join me in standing up for our daughters, nieces, and granddaughters by voting for this critical bill.

Given the 53 Republican seats in the Senate and 60 votes needed to advance the bill for a final vote, the fate of Monday’s vote remains uncertain.

Regardless of what state you reside in, your senators need to hear from you. Please reach out to them and urge them to vote “yes” on the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” or S.9.

Opponents of the bill have wrongly suggested the legislation is dangerous and discriminatory. In reality, it helps to ensure the safety of women and rights a major wrong with females being unfairly targeted on various fields of competition. Over 900 women have lost trophies and awards to men pretending to be female.

Thankfully, the American people aren’t falling for the ruse. Wide majorities believe women shouldn’t have to be squaring off against men. It’s common sense. It shouldn’t be controversial.

Many have remarked on the powerful image of President Trump surrounded by girl and women athletes as he signed the executive order that officially (albeit temporarily) rescinded funding from any program that deprived female athletes of fair competition.

It’s tragic that common sense legislation like the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” is necessary. But what will be even more calamitous if an obstructionist minority of Senators refuse to protect our daughters from creeps, con artists and the mentally confused who are scamming girls sports. 

Again, please contact your two senators and ask them to vote “YES” on the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” or S.9.

Image from Getty.

Department of Education Launches Multiple Investigations Into Title IX Violations

The U.S. Department of Education has launched multiple investigations into schools and athletic associations for Title IX violations, including schools that allow boys in girls restrooms and sports.

The investigations follow an executive order signed by President Donald Trump, Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports, which declares that the practice of letting men compete in women’s sports is “demeaning, unfair and dangerous to women and girls, and denies women and girls the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”

The order directs the DOE to remove federal funds from “educational programs that deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.” 

The most recent investigation was launched after the president got into a dustup with Maine Governor Janet Mills over boys taking slots on girls teams, as National Review reported.

When asked whether Maine would follow the executive order, the governor replied the state was “complying with state and federal laws.”

The president then said, “We are the federal law. You better do it because you’re not going to get any federal funding at all if you don’t.” 

According to National Review, “Mills replied that she will see Trump in court as her state openly resists federal law. Maine’s high school sports governing body is continuing to abide by state law regarding athletic eligibility, defying Trump’s order.”

A male high school student recently won Maine’s Class B indoor girls pole vaulting championship, helping his team eke out a one-point victory for the Class B title.

The male sophomore, who goes by the name Katie Spencer, won the event with a vault of 10-6. Two girls, freshman Briella Boudreau and senior Kessa Benner, tied for second and third, 10-0.

As a result, the DOE announced it was looking into the Maine Department of Education “amid allegations that it continues to allow male athletes to compete in girls’ interscholastic athletics and that it has denied female athletes female-only intimate facilities, thereby violating federal antidiscrimination law.”  

Maine’s not the only one being scrutinized for discriminating against girls. Here’s a roundup of more groups the DOE is looking into:

  • The DOE announced it was investigating “three entities for suspected Title IX violations: San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.” Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor released a statement saying, “This administration will not tolerate the mistreatment of female athletes.”

He added, “The previous administration trampled the rights of American women and girls – and ignored the indignities to which they were subjected in bathrooms and locker rooms – to promote a radical transgender ideology.” 

  • The education department released a statement that it had also “directed investigations into the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) and the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF)” after the groups “publicly announced plans to violate federal antidiscrimination laws related to girls’ and women’s sports.”

According to the DOE statement, both groups “announced their intentions to abide by state law as it relates to girls’ and women’s sports in violation of federal antidiscrimination laws. Both state laws allow athletes to participate on teams based on an individual’s subjective gender identity rather than biological sex, even though biological sex is the basis for Title IX protections.”

  • The DOE’s Office of General Counsel announced it “sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) urging them to restore to female athletes the records, titles, awards, and recognitions misappropriated by biological males competing in female categories.”  
  • The DOE’s Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to the Denver Public Schools District for violating Title IX when “the District converted a girls’ restroom in East High School to a multi-stall all gender restroom.” The letter goes on to state: “East High School now has an exclusive restroom for male students and no restroom for female students on its second floor.” Not having equal facilities for girls clearly violates their Title IX rights, the letter said, adding that the department would be investigating discrimination at other Denver schools.
  • In response to a complaint from America First Legal, the DOE launched an investigation into “the ‘gender identity’ policies of five northern Virginia public school systems – Alexandria City, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County and Prince William County.”

America First Legal Senior Advisor Ian Prior said in a statement, “A male student in these school districts can wake up, claim to be ‘gender expansive or transgender,’ and then have a pass to use female locker rooms and restrooms. If the female students are uncomfortable sharing those locker rooms and restrooms with that male student, it is the female students who must make alternative arrangements. That is sex discrimination.”

When boys participate in girls sports, they steal victories, scholarships and opportunities to compete. It’s also unsafe. Allowing boys into dressing rooms, showers and restrooms, as an assault on girls privacy, dignity and safety.

For too long, girls and women have been pushed to the sidelines by males claiming to be female. We applaud the Department of Education for launching these investigations and hope for success as they fight transgender ideology and discrimination against girls and women.

Related articles and resources:

The U.S. Department of Education offers resources related to Title IX here and complaint filing information here.

If you’re concerned about what your child is being taught in school, check out this updated, free resource from Focus on the Family and Family Policy Alliance: Equipping Parents for Back-to-School.

We want parents to feel confident and equipped to manage issues affecting public – and private and online – schooling. The FREE downloadable resource helps you be aware of what’s going on in your child’s classroom and offers guidance for how to advocate for your child in the school year ahead.

Addressing Gender Identity with Honesty and Compassion

Department of Education: Schools Embracing DEI Will Lose Funding

Don’t Let the Media Deceive You About Trump’s Order Protecting Female Athletes

The Journey Back to My True Identity

Parents Support Core Subjects, Keep Males out of Female Sports

Trump Signs Executive Order Protecting Women’s Sports and Spaces

What is ‘Gender Identity’?

Image from Shutterstock.