A group of Pennsylvania state representatives has introduced a new version of the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” now titled “Dads Defending Daughters.” The bill was put forward on September 5 by Reps. Clint Owlett, Eric Davanzo, Joe D’Orsie, Jonathan Fritz, and Joe Hamm. It seeks to require public schools and higher education institutions to designate sports teams as male, female, or coed, and would prohibit biological males from participating on teams designated for females. Unlike previous versions, this bill would take effect immediately.
“We’ve wasted far too much time on what should be a commonsense vote for any logical person in the Legislature,” said Owlett. “We are calling on our fellow dads across the Commonwealth to join us in standing up for the rights of all of our daughters to enjoy fair competition, along with the lessons learned and opportunities earned through participation in team and individual sports.”
“This is a fight not just for my daughter, but for your daughter and for every little girl in Pennsylvania who deserves fair opportunity in the sports they love,” said Davanzo. “Recently, the governor did a social media video to hype up the Little League Softball World Series, but he failed to mention that he lacks the will to protect that opportunity from males pretending to be females. We have to stop this.”
“Our girls, like my 7-year-old daughter, deserve a measure of safety, privacy and fairness when they suit up for the field, court or pool,” said D’Orsie. “Backtracking on Title IX protections for girls is discriminatory and cruelly erases the progress we’ve made on behalf of girl athletes. It’s time that we as a legislative body find the courage to protect girls’ sports in the Commonwealth.”
“Sixty-six girls have lost medals or placement since 2020 in Pennsylvania due to biological males invading their space in sports,” said Fritz. “This is not conjecture. It’s a fact, and it’s just plain wrong. We cannot continue to allow woke extremism, and our governor and his far-left coconspirators, to continue to block justice for our girls.”
“As a dad of two daughters who has taught my girls to compete fiercely and never give up, it’s inconceivable to me that they could be forced to compete against boys,” said Hamm. “Girls cannot be made to be spectators at their own sport because of Democrat inaction and stall tactics. We need to pass this commonsense legislation now to protect Pennsylvania girls.”
The lawmakers criticized House Democratic leaders for procedural delays regarding action on similar bills earlier this year. In July, majority Democrats re-referred an earlier version of the bill from one committee (the House Education Committee) back into another (the House Health Committee), rather than advancing it toward a floor vote.
The group stated: “This issue has broad bipartisan support across the state and across parties. Five Democrats in the state Senate supported Senate Bill 9 when it was adopted by a 32-18 vote in early May. We all know the re-referral to the Health Committee was a ruse, and they proved it with the appropriate referral of our bill today to the Education Committee. It will be quite interesting to see how they spin their continued denial to defend our daughters.”
