Press Release: 4/29/2025
Call For Testimony On MA Sports Bills Protecting Female Athletes!
Hearing May 6th.
APR 29, 2025
November 2023 Female field hockey player from Dighton-Rehoboth suffers severe facial trauma caused by a male player from Swampscott.
On May 6th the Massachusetts Joint Committee On Education will hold a hearing on two similar sports bills, H.737, An Act Relative To Defending The Autonomy And Integrity Of Student Athletes And Coaches (we posted about this here) and H.584, An Act To Ensure Fairness And Safety In School Sports.
Both bills protect student athletes and coaches from discipline or penalty by allowing athletes to sit out of games, and by allowing coaches to forfeit games, when competing against a sex-designated team that includes a player of the opposite sex. They are based on a policy update made by the Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee in the summer of 2024. The only difference between the bills is that H.584 adds this sentence at the end: For the purposes of this section, a “single-sex team” is any team that is designated as either a girls’ team or a boys’ team, as opposed to a team that is designated as co-ed.
We are confident that neither of these bills will become law this session. However, this hearing is an opportunity to present arguments and evidence supporting the necessity of sex-segregated female sports.
Fortunately, this issue has recently come to the attention of MA legislators in the form of amendments to two House bills. On April 9th, Amendment #81, which would protect single-sex sports in schools, was added to a supplemental appropriation bill, H.4005. You can read our post about this amendment here. And this week a similar amendment, Amendment #348, was filed to amend the House budget, H.4000. Both of these amendments go further than the two bills under consideration in protecting female athletes in that they prohibit all males from competing on female teams. Amendment #348 has exceptions which you can read about here.
Because the issue of fairness in female sports is so politically contentious, most MA legislators would prefer to avoid taking a position. These amendments may force them to take a stand. Now is the perfect time to express your views on the matter with MA legislators.
Testimony on these two sports bills must mention one or both of the bills and express support or opposition. However, testimony can also include arguments and evidence in favor of sex-segregated female sports in general and even argue that the above-mentioned amendments should be passed. Note that these bills are not specifically about including trans-identified males in female sports. Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) policy allows for male participation in female sports, regardless of gender identity, if a school does not have a boy’s team for that sport.
These bills are at the first step in the legislative process. The chairperson of the Joint Committee On Education may report the bills out of committee favorably, unfavorably or into a study. Even in the unlikely case that either bill is reported out favorably, your letters to your MA representatives wouldn't be needed until they come to a vote before the House, which could be as late as the fall of 2027.
Instructions for those who would like to submit written testimony, testify virtually, or who would like to testify in person are here. You must register for virtual testimony by 5pm May 5th.
Representatives from Democrats for an Informed Approach to Gender (DIAG) and LGB Courage Coalition will be testifying in-person on May 6th.
We have provided sample testimony below only as a guide. The more personal your testimony, the better. Our updated factsheet, Male Advantage In Female Sports, MA is a great resource for facts and citations about the impact of males in female sports. Additionally, you may want to consult the websites of the Independent Council On Women’s sports (ICONS), the Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, and the Men In Women’s Sports: Unsafe And Unfair page on DIAG’s website.
Brief testimony of just a few paragraphs will also have an impact.
We hope that you will add your voice to the call for fairness and safety for Massachusetts female athletes!
For a clear and simple account of the Massachusetts legislative process, please visitHow A Bill Becomes A Law, published by the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. You could also consult The Legislative Process, published by Commonwealth of Massachusetts Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission.
For guidance on writing public testimony see Writing Effective Testimony, published by Massachusetts Platform for Legislative Engagement.