Mississippi governor signs law protecting women's and girls' sports from biological males

Mississippi's governor on Thursday signed legislation banning transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports.

Gov. Tate Reeves had vowed on social media earlier this month that he would sign the bill, tweeting that the measure is needed "to protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities."

"It's crazy we have to address it, but the Biden E.O. forced the issue," Reeves tweeted on March 4 in response to news that the Mississippi House and Senate had voted overwhelmingly for the ban. "Adults? That's on them. But the push for kids to adopt transgenderism is just wrong," the state leader added.

In an 81-28 vote, the state House passed the Mississippi Fairness Act the day prior. The bill passed in the Senate by 34-9 last month, one of over two dozen similar legislative measures proposed by state lawmakers nationwide this year.

"If we do not move to protect female sports from biological males who have an unfair physiological advantage, we will eventually no longer have female sports," Republican state Sen. Angela Hill told ABC News after the bill passed, the first act of its kind to pass through both chambers without failure in 2021.

Following the House passage, Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David said Mississippi was "on the wrong side of history."

"There is simply no justification for banning transgender girls and women from participating in athletics other than discrimination," David said via March 3 press release. "These dangerous bills are designed to make the lives of transgender kids more difficult while they try to navigate their adolescence."

In February, Reeves expressed on Twitter how he was "disappointed" by President Joe Biden's executive order signed in his first days in office that would force young girls to compete with biological males for access to athletics. "It will limit opportunity for so many competitors like my daughters," the Republican governor fired back. "It is bad policy and it is wrong for America."

"I don't understand why politicians are pushing children into transgenderism in the first place," Reeves wrote on Feb. 4. "And my heart breaks for the young women across America who will lose in this radical social experiment."

David claimed in Thursday's press statement that Reeves "chooses fear and division over facts and science," describing the governor's alleged "eagerness to become the face of the latest anti-transgender push" as "appalling."