Sue Bird, Megan Rapinoe Among 40 Athletes to Sign Letter Opposing Federal Anti-Trans Sports Ban

A group of 40 professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes signed a letter regarding recent anti-trans sports bans sent to House of Representatives legislative directors on Monday.

The athletes include USWNT star Megan Rapinoe, recently retired WNBA star Sue Bird and USWNT star Becky Sauerbrunn. The remaining athletes who signed the letter, organized by the LGBTQ advocacy group Athlete Ally, compete in various sports, such as soccer, hockey and rugby.

The letter calls out the Republican-led “Protection of Girls and Women in Sports Act,” HR 734, which would ban transgender and intersex girls and women from competing in sports across the country. If the bill passes, it would become part of Title IX legislation.

The 40 athletes who signed the letter expressed how the proposed bill “does not protect women in sports,” as it would exclude women and girls from getting necessary “mental and physical health benefits.”

“We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,” the letter reads. “Our deepest hope is that transgender and intersex kids will never have to feel the isolation, exclusion and othering that H.R. 734 is seeking to enshrine into law.”

Last week, the Biden administration proposed new guidelines, which include state legislators’ not being able to “outright ban” transgender athletes from competing in sports.

In recent years, 20 states have enacted laws to ban transgender athletes from participating in public schools and colleges. Those states include Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Oklahoma.