DENTON, Texas — Flanked on either side by lawmakers and female athletes and with a crowd of protestors nearby, Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill restricting what teams transgender college athletes can be on.
The signing was only ceremonial after Abbott signed the bill, Senate Bill 15, into law on June 15.
“We’re here because women’s sports are threatened across the entire country,” said Abbott.
Outside the Texas Woman’s University library where the ceremony took place, a crowd of around 150 protesters held signs and chanted, “Go away Greg” and “Let them play”.
Inside, Abbott argued the law is safeguarding women’s sports and protecting future generations of competition.
“Texas will stop at nothing to continue to protect women’s sports for women,” he said.
Representative Venton Jones is part of the LGBTQ caucus and represents Southern Dallas. He and advocacy groups say more than 140 bills this session targeted LGBTQ communities from drag shows to transgender care and athletics.
“We continue to harm Texas families for political talking points,” Jones said. “As a state, it disappoints me that we’re continuing to interject ourselves into the living rooms and decision making of Texas families.”
SB 15 mirrors a ban in K-12 sports passed in 2021 and applies to both NCAA sports and club or intramurals.
Its direct impact is unclear. Transgender college athletes are extremely rare and there’s no official count of the number participating in Texas sports.
WFAA asked Gov. Abbott about similar bills in other states already facing lawsuits to block them. An Arizona judge recently blocked an identical measure.
“As the former attorney general of the state of Texas, I can tell you this,” Abbott said. “Texas will vigorously defend this law in court, and we will win.”
With Democrats far outnumbered in the state legislature, litigation is the only potential roadblock to passing similar laws.
“We have to continue to fight and continue to show that these bills are unconstitutional,” Jones said. “We have to make sure we’re protecting all Texas children including those transgender young people and their families.”