At the end of the day, maybe the NCAA did conservatives a huge favor. Earlier this week, the woke collegiate sports association tried playing hardball with states that want to protect girls' sports. But so far, all they've done is motivate them!
The NCAA has been one of the biggest bullies on the liberal block for years. But after a half-decade of successful cultural hostage-taking, it's getting harder and harder to scare Republicans away from common-sense bills. This past week, their threat about pulling tournaments from states that don't embrace their radical ideas about gender failed spectacularly. In the shadow of Georgia, where conservatives made a collective decision to stand up and fight, no one seems willing to give the Left a second glance.
Republicans from Florida to Alabama have not only found their voice -- they've found their nerve. Led by conservative voices like Senator Rick Scott (R), who met the NCAA's threat with one of their own, states have been more emboldened than ever to do what's in the best interest of their daughters. Within 48 hours of the league's warning, two states thumbed their nose at the organization, sending legislation to protect girls' sports out of their legislature and onto their governors' desks.
In Alabama, the proposal was met by almost zero resistance -- passing out of the Senate by a lopsided (and bipartisan) 25-5 vote. Like the supermajority of his colleagues, Republican State Senator Garlan Gudger (R) refused to be swayed by the NCAA, insisting that the bill was "important" to the "integrity of women's athletics." Thanks to the overwhelming support in the state, the proposal is headed to Governor Kay Ivey's (R) desk for signature.
Like their southern friends, North Dakota wasted no time sending a similar message to the NCAA. "This is not about hatred or love," State Senator Janne Myrdal (R) argued. "This is about Title IX and women's rights and girls' rights to have an even playing field. This is about feminism." Others, like State Senator David Clemens (R) can't believe this is even a debate. "For us to begin to even consider things like this, to me, is beyond comprehension. What we are becoming is God ourselves -- and now we are going to create who we feel is male and female." By a 27-20 vote, the senate followed the House's lead and cleared a path to Governor Doug Burgum's (R) desk.
Things got worse for the NCAA in Florida, where the state house turned Senator Scott's response into a rallying cry, passing a proposal to ban trans-identifying athletes from competing with girls by another resounding margin: 77-40. "This is about giving women and girls an even chance to succeed," Republican state Rep. Jenna Persons-Mulicka cheered. She should know, she said. She went to college on a tennis scholarship that might not have been possible in today's gender chaos.
In West Virginia, Governor Jim Justice (R) is on the verge of making his state the fourth to take the fight to the Left. "I just can't get through my head that it's the right thing for us at a middle school level or a high school level in our state [to make girls compete against biological boys]. Even at our college level, I support the bill there as well."
"The NCAA (who represents state universities that you subsidize) should not dictate public policy to the state legislators you elect to represent you!!" Republican Study Committee chair Jim Banks (R-Ind.) tweeted. It's refreshing to see so many state leaders agree!
