Ivey sets Alabama Girls in Sports Day—and targets trans athletes
The proclamation tied October 10 to "XX" chromosomes while casting gender identity debates as a fairness fight.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a proclamation Monday establishing October 10, 2026, as “Alabama Girls in Sports Day.”
The proclamation begins by touting the positive impact athletic participation can have on young girls and celebrating female athletes’ achievements throughout sports history. However, it then fuels the growing antagonism toward transgender women’s participation in sports—an issue that has become a popular talking point among Republican politicians in recent years.
“Alabama recognizes that there are fundamental biological differences between males and females that create meaningful competitive and safety considerations in athletic competition, particularly in women's and girls' sports, and we will continue standing up for women's opportunity to compete fairly, safely and on a level playing field,” the proclamation reads.
The document also specifies that October 10 was chosen because of its relationship to the Roman numerals “XX,” which reflect the “two X chromosomes that are characteristic of the female sex.”
In a separate statement, Ivey declared that “if the Good Lord made you a boy, you are a boy, and if He made you a girl, you are a girl.”
“We will continue standing up for the opportunity for girls to compete fairly and safely,” Ivey added.
Despite Ivey’s and other GOP leaders’ insistence that transgender athletes threaten women’s sports, several athletic icons and advocacy groups—including Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, the Women’s Sports Foundation and the National Women’s Law Center—continue to support the inclusion of transgender women in women’s sports.
Additionally, studies note that gender-affirming treatments such as hormone therapy can often reduce many of the sex-based differences between transgender athletes and their cisgender peers, making the physiological differences between transgender and cisgender athletes negligible—particularly when considering the biological variations already present within cisgender populations.
There were also fewer than 10 transgender athletes participating in college sports across the U.S. as of December 2024, compared with more than 510,000 total college athletes in the NCAA.
Asked how Ivey would respond to Alabamians who may view her proclamation as transphobic or exclusionary toward transgender and intersex people, a spokesperson for the governor said, “If standing up for our young female athletes is controversial, well, call us controversial.”
