Protecting Girls’ Opportunities in Sports is not Discrimination—It’s Justice

By Delegate Geary Higgins
Member, Virginia House of Delegates
District 30, Western Loudoun & Fauquier Counties

When our daughters take the field, they should know they’re competing on a level playing field. That shouldn’t be controversial. But today, it is. My wife and I have experience with this having raised three daughters in the public school system who were all athletes. We’ve been to the 5:30 a.m. practices and to just about every pool or playing field in Virginia.

In schools across Virginia, biological males are being allowed to compete in girls’ sports. It’s happening right now—in track meets, swim lanes, and volleyball courts. And every time it happens, a girl loses a spot on the roster, a place on the podium, or a shot at a scholarship she worked years to earn.

This isn’t fairness. It’s erasure. And it’s time to speak up.

Let me say the quiet part out loud: boys and girls are different. That’s not discrimination. That’s biology.

We have separate categories in sports for a reason, and it’s not to exclude anyone. It’s to protect the integrity of competition and ensure that every athlete has a fair chance to succeed.

But today, common sense is under attack.

Democrats in Richmond have voted repeatedly against bills that would protect girls’ sports. They claim it’s about inclusion—but the only people being excluded are the girls who have to compete against stronger, faster, taller opponents who went through male puberty.

This is not a theoretical debate. It’s not a culture war talking point. It’s a real issue with real consequences for real students.

Ask the high school volleyball player who suffered a concussion after a spike from a male athlete.

Ask the track runner who missed out on regionals because a spot went to a biologically male competitor.

Ask the parents of a young swimmer who has trained for years, only to be pushed down the rankings in an event she once dominated.

And then ask the politicians who allow it to keep happening why they think this is okay. Republicans believe girls deserve better. We believe sports should be safe, fair, and rooted in reality. That’s why we’ve introduced legislation to ensure that students compete according to their biological sex in school athletics—because protecting girls’ opportunities is not discrimination. It’s justice.

This is not about banning anyone from participating. Every student has a right to play sports. But we draw lines in other areas—age brackets, weight classes, divisions—because fairness matters.

So does safety.

And when we pretend those lines don’t matter, it’s not just athletic competition that suffers. It sends a message to every girl in Virginia that her accomplishments don’t count. That her hard work can be wiped away by political correctness. That speaking up for herself might make her a target.

We can be compassionate and still be honest. We can respect every student’s dignity while also respecting the rights of girls to compete against girls. These are not mutually exclusive ideas. They are the foundation of any serious approach to fairness and equality.

So let’s say it plainly:
This isn’t about hate—it’s about fairness.
This isn’t about exclusion—it’s about protection.
And if we don’t draw the line here, there won’t be a place left for our daughters to win.

I’m proud to stand with the female athletes of Virginia, on every field, court, and track. And I will keep fighting to make sure their effort, their excellence, and their futures are never sacrificed to appease an ideology that forgot what fairness really means.