Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Shuts Down ESPN’s Criticism with Fact-Based Rebuttal on State’s New Transgender Sports Law

On Tuesday, Alabama became the latest state to establish limits on transgender athletes when Governor Kay Ivey (R-AL) signed legislation that will prohibit biological males from participating on college female sports teams.

“Look, if you are a biological male, you are not going to be competing in women’s and girls’ sports in Alabama,” the governor said during bill signing. “It’s about fairness, plain and simple.”

Ivey expanded similar legislation for K-12 public schools in 2021, HB 261 requires public universities of both two and four years must restrict their athletic teams and competitions to “biological male” and “biological female” athletes only. The new law, only allows trans athletes to engage in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth.

On Tuesday, ESPN made a post about the news that Gov. Ivey had passed the new law on its social media platforms.

“Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban transgender women from playing on female sports teams in college. This expands the state’s existing ban on transgender athletes on K-12 sports teams.”

However, Governor Ivey wasted no time in delivering a fact-based rebuttal, highlighting the importance of maintaining a level playing field and safeguarding the opportunities available for female athletes.

“Let me fix that ESPN,” governor wrote on her personal Twitter account.

“*Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban biological MEN from playing on FEMALE sports teams in college.”

Let me fix that, @espn.

*Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed legislation on Tuesday that will ban biological MEN from playing on FEMALE sports teams in college. #alpolitics https://t.co/aFda69PyyB

— Kay Ivey (@kayiveyforgov) May 31, 2023