This week’s theme is safeguarding sex-specific spaces and sports and athletics, one of the most prominent issues in the ongoing debate over transgender policies. Allowing individuals to access shared spaces based on self-identified gender rather than biological sex raises serious safety and privacy concerns. In female sports, these concerns are compounded by questions of fairness and physical advantage.
ACPeds continues to raise the alarm on this critical topic. Last Friday, we filed an amicus brief in West Virginia v. B.P.J. in defense of female athletes’ right to fairness and safety in sports. Additionally, Dr. Scott Field and Dr. Jane Anderson recently published a fact sheet outlining biological advantages male athletes have over females.
News This Week:
- Texas Women’s Privacy Act: Governor Abbott signed SB 8, requiring bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities to be used according to biological sex.
- Stone Bridge Locker Room Case: Two boys suspended for objecting to sharing the locker room with a biological female were temporarily cleared by a federal court, while the DOE ruled the district violated Title IX.
- California Volleyball Crisis: Several California teams raised concerns that transgender athletes threaten safety, privacy, and fairness in girls’ sports.
Ultimately, supporters of transgender rights in these contexts greatly risk the safety, honor, and privacy of others. ACPeds remains committed to protecting all of these, particularly for minors.
Sincerely,
The Biological Integrity Team
The American College of Pediatricians
Texas Passes “Bathroom Bill” Protecting Women in Private Spaces
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has signed Senate Bill 8 (the “Texas Women’s Privacy Act”), requiring that in government buildings, schools, prisons, and certain shelters, individuals must use bathrooms, locker rooms, and changing facilities according to their biological sex at birth.
The law takes effect on December 4, 2025. Currently, seven states fully ban transgender individuals from using bathrooms in government-owned buildings based on their self-identified “gender identity,” while thirteen other states impose restrictions in certain government facilities.
Federal Court Blocks Boys’ Suspension Over Locker Room Objections
Over the summer, two boys from Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia, were given a 10-day suspension by their school district after raising objections to sharing the boys’ locker room with a biological female.
Their families filed a lawsuit to challenge the punishment, and last week, a federal court granted an emergency order temporarily halting the suspension while the case proceeds. At the same time, the Department of Education determined that the school district had violated Title IX.
Inside California Girls’ Sports Crisis
California high school volleyball is facing a crisis after several teams raised concerns that transgender athletes cause physical harm to opponents, compromise safety and privacy in locker rooms and shared spaces, and deny young girls their rightful titles.
One student said, “I shouldn’t be scared to change in the women’s locker room.” She and many others placed blame on Governor Newsom, who has acknowledged that males competing in girls’ sports is unfair. Yet under his leadership, no effective measures have been taken to prevent it.
California has faced a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice since July for allowing males in girls’ sports. The policies must change.
