Free Republic

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) signed legislation into law on Monday that would block males identifying as females from competing in girls’ and women’s sports at public schools and colleges in the Peach State. The Riley Gaines Act, which will take effect on July 1, requires that student athletes from kindergarten through college compete according to their biological sex, not what they may identify as. The law further requires the state to provide separate locker rooms and changing facilities for male and female athletes. “It will establish clearly in Georgia law that males are not allowed to compete in female...

During an interview with Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul on Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) responded to safety concerns around allowing biological men in women’s sports in light of the Payton McNabb incident and the state’s lawsuit over the Trump administration’s push to keep biological men out of women’s sports by saying that “I’ll leave you and your viewers and other people to discuss what happened in one video.” Host Amy Hockert asked, “What do you think about people like Riley Gaines…girls and women who we’ve seen, sometimes videos are circulated of a volleyball player who has a ball...

The battle over transgender athletes’ participation in youth sports came to California on Tuesday as state lawmakers rejected two bills aimed at keeping trans kids and teens off sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Lawmakers voted to block a bill that would have required the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, to adopt rules banning students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team.

World Athletics announced it will begin mandatory gender testing for female athletes in order to protect the integrity of women's sports. The organization formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations revealed at a press conference that after a comprehensive review, it was ready to move forward with gender tests in order to ensure female athletes at their events are indeed female. World Athletics holds a plethora of annual events in track and field, covering sports like indoor/outdoor running, decathlons, and racewalking. 'The process is very straightforward.' World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said during the press conference that "over...

Any false claim by the UMaine can, and will, result in onerous and even potentially criminal financial liability,' the USDA warned.. The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that the University of Maine System (UMS) has agreed to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order to keep transgender athletes out of women's sports. UMS, a network of eight public universities in Maine, was subject to a temporary pause in funding from the USDA last week during an ongoing battle between the state and the federal government over trans inclusion in women's and girls sports. The funding was reinstated just days...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has temporarily halted spending to all of the programs it funds at University of Maine System schools, a system spokesperson announced Tuesday morning. The move temporarily pauses the system's agricultural research and programs weeks after President Donald Trump threatened to cut funding for Maine because it allows transgender athletes to compete in sports. The university system has $56.1 million in active USDA grants, most of which support the flagship campus in Orono and agriculture programs and research, according to spokesperson Samantha Warren.

The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, blasted California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) for abandoning transgender athletes earlier this week in an interview with conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Newsom launched a podcast last year, and recently revamped it, saying that he wanted to interview people in the MAGA movement. (Newsom’s office has repeatedly refused requests for interviews with, or of, Breitbart News.) The publicity stunt is apparent meant to burnish Newsom’s bipartisan credentials ahead of a possible run for the presidency in 2028. But it backfired badly after Newsom, who built his career on LGBTQ causes, backtracked. As Breitbart...

President Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday delivering on a key campaign promise to ban transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, a directive that will also extend to trans athletes visiting the U.S. from abroad, a White House official said. The order, which Trump will sign at a ceremony in Washington, will target visas issued to transgender professional and elite athletes traveling to the U.S. to compete in women’s athletic competitions. Among other events, the U.S. is set to host the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. “If you are coming into the country and you...

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. will not grant visas to transgender women athletes trying to enter the country to participate in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Trump made the declaration at the White House during a signing ceremony of an executive order aimed at prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in women's sports and directing agencies to withdraw federal funding for any schools that refuse to comply. Trump said he will direct Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem "to deny any and all visa applications made by men attempting to fraudulently enter the United States while identifying...

An American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided Wednesday with an Army helicopter while landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, prompting a large search-and-rescue operation in the nearby Potomac River. There was no immediate word on casualties or the cause of the collision, but takeoffs and landings from the airport near Washington were halted as helicopters from law enforcement agencies across the region flew over the scene in search of survivors. The plane departed from Wichita, Kansas. Here's the latest: Kremlin confirms former champion Russian skaters were onboard The Kremlin has confirmed that...

“Real Time” host Bill Maher appeared to be stunned by his admission that President Donald Trump is now considered “cool.” “Here’s how bad the Democrats f—ed up: Trump is cool now,” Maher said during a panel discussion Friday night.“He’s not just the most powerful guy in the world and just made himself like the richest, he’s actually kind of [cool] at 78!” “I mean, rappers like him, the athletes are doing-” Maher continued while gesturing Trump’s iconic rally dance.

Former Biden White House press secretary MSNBC host Jen Psaki said Sunday on “Inside” that after their election loss, Democrats should double down on supporting transgender rights because laws limiting transgender athletes in women’s sports is “right-wing propaganda.” Partial transcript as follows: There’s obviously a lot of soul searching right now going on within the Democratic Party and that’s a good thing. But what I worry about is that in the course of all that soul-searching, some Democrats might reach the wrong sweeping conclusions. And there are a lot of issues that fall into that bucket. But one in particular...

Author J.K. Rowling publicly called out HBO host John Oliver for arguing that transgenders participating in women’s sports pose no threat to women and that the Democratic Party should continue advocating in its favor. In the wake of President-elect Donald Trump’s stunning victory over Vice President Kamala Harris, in which he secured the popular vote on top of an Electoral College landslide, Democrats have been hosting tough conversations about the future of the party in its relations to transgender issues, specifically transgenders operating in women’s spaces, including bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletics. While Democrats like Bill Maher, Ben Dreyfuss, and...

Former Biden press secretary-turned-MSNBC host Jen Psaki warns Democrats not to accept the premise that transgender athletes is even an issue. "Echoing and adopting the panic from the other side is not leading. It’s not meeting people where they are. It’s simply falling prey to right-wing propaganda without checking the facts first," she said.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) doubled down on his recent comments about transgender athletes, saying the response to them proves his point. “I was just speaking authentically as a dad about one of many issues where I think we’re just out of touch with the majority of voters, and I stand by my position,” Moulton said Sunday during an MSNBC appearance. “The backlash I’ve received proves my point that we can’t even have these discussions as a party.” “And we’ve got to be able to have these debates,” he added. “But, instead, we have a wing of our party that shames...

High school students across New York plan to participate in a walkout later this month to protest transgender athletes competing in girls’ sports. The statewide demonstration, set for Oct. 24, is being organized by The Coalition to Protect Kids, a group that has strong backing from the Catholic Church and the New York Republican and Conservative parties. “It’s not right for boys to compete against girls in sports. It’s a huge disadvantage for girls,” said Hannah Pompeo, a 16-year soccer player at Eden High School near Buffalo, who is participating in the “Walk Off for Fairness Day.” Millie McCormack, a...

Former Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith has joined 14 other NFL Hall of Fame players in endorsing left-wing Democrat Kamala Harris’s run for the White House in the Harris campaign’s “Athletes for Harris” effort. Calvin “Megatron” Johnson, formerly of the Detroit Lions, and 1970s Minnesota Vikings star Alan Page are among the others who signed onto the vice president’s campaign.

In 2014, the International Olympic Committee named a syndrome affecting many of its athletes: relative energy deficiency in sport, or REDs. It's now estimated that more than 40% of professional athletes have REDs, and the rate could be even higher in recreational athletes and exercisers. Athletes develop REDs when they consistently expend more energy through their physical activity than they take in through their diet. Over time, this prolonged energy deficit can lead to a wide range of symptoms, including hormonal and reproductive issues, insomnia and fatigue, bone weakness and injury, and a higher risk of anxiety and depression. Now,...

Denver Broncos linebacker and member of the legendary “Orange Crush,” Randy Gradishar, was recently inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024. Gradishar’s impressive career includes being named the 1978 Defensive Player of the Year, making seven trips to the Pro Bowl, being named a two-time First Team All-Pro, and being the Broncos’ all-time leading tackler. But when Gradishar thanked his longtime friend and two-time Heisman Trophy winner, it was for more than what happened on the field. Gradishar thanked Griffin for inviting him to a meeting of a campus Fellowship of...

Several athletes competing at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, including five Australian water polo players and a British swimmer, have tested positive for COVID-19, according to officials. The uptick in cases has raised questions around the measures in place to stop the spread of COVID at the Olympics. This year's Games are considered the first post-pandemic Olympics. Unlike the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, there are no strict protocols or restrictions around COVID-19 in Paris. However, COVID-19 is still spreading around the world. The United States is facing a summer wave, and...