According to reports, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem will sign a bill today mandating that only biological females be allowed to participate in women’s or girls’ sports. Her signature will make South Dakota the tenth state in the nation to explicitly protect female athletics in law.

In response, Terry Schilling, president of American Principles Project (APP), released the following statement celebrating the law’s passage:

“Women’s sports are under serious threat nationwide. That has only become more clear in recent months, as instances such as Lia Thomas’ domination of collegiate women’s swimming have gained national visibility. For those who care about protecting a fair playing field for female athletes, inaction is no longer an option.

“Gov. Noem and South Dakota legislators deserve a great deal of credit for passing this strong legislation, despite some hiccups last year. We thank them for standing up for equal opportunities for their state’s women and girl athletes, and we urge lawmakers in states without such protections to get to work on passing them immediately.”

APP’s Jon Schweppe wrote a detailed analysis of the legislation when it was introduced by Gov. Noem last December. You can read his summary here.

To schedule an engagement with American Principles Project, contact Paul Dupont at (o) 202-503-2010 or pdupont@americanprinciplesproject.org.