30 STATES IN 30 DAYS: Our Bodies, Our Sports Leads Landmark Coast-to-Coast "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus Tour To Save Women's Sports And Stop The War On Women
Female Athletes and Coaches Expose Biden's Overhaul of Title IX — "The Most Anti-Woman Pursuit of This Administration"
WASHINGTON, July 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Our Bodies, Our Sports' landmark "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus Tour across America to build widespread support to repeal the Biden administration's new Title IX rewrite and protect women's sports wrapped up its final rally in Nashville on Friday with a packed room, filled with energized supporters of all ages and women's rights advocates. The tour, featuring prominent and decorated female athletes and coaches, traveled throughout 30 states in 30 days to inform the public about the consequences of the illegal changes to Title IX and the threat to women and girls' sex-based spaces — including sports. Biden's Title IX rewrite takes effect on August 1.
Our Bodies, Our Sports "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus Tour
Martina Navratilova at Our Bodies, Our Sports "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus Tour Rally in Washington, DC
Supporters Sign Our Bodies, Our Sports "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus
Riley Gaines at Our Bodies, Our Sports "Take Back Title IX" Summer 2024 Bus Tour Rally in Washington, DC
Supporters Gather for Landmark Coast-to-Coast “Take Back Title IX” Bus Tour
(PRNewsfoto/Independent Women's Forum)
The tour was sponsored by Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition, the nation's first and only coalition of women's advocacy organizations from across the political spectrum fighting to protect women's sports, featuring former Olympians, NCAA athletes and coaches, high school athletes, and prominent women's advocates.
Speakers along the tour included 12x All-American swimmer Riley Gaines; one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Martina Navratilova; former U.S. Representative (D-HI) and original sponsor of the Protect Women's Sports Act Tulsi Gabbard; former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos; two-time Olympian Nancy Hogshead; two-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Donna de Varona; one of the most winningest coaches in women's basketball history, former UNC Chapel Hill head coachSylvia Hatchell, and more. (A full list of speakers is available below.)
The tour built upon the momentum the Our Bodies, Our Sportscoalition has generated over the past two years standing up for women and girls and fighting against the radical left's assault on the very concept of womanhood — creating the largest, most ideologically diverse women's movement of our time.
Coalition members include: Independent Women's Forum (IWF), Women's Liberation Front (WoLF), Champion Women, Women's Sports Policy Working Group, International Consortium on Female Sports (ICFS), Independent Council on Women's Sports (ICONS), the US chapter of Women's Declaration International (WDI USA), Concerned Women for America (CWA), Young Women for America, Independent Women's Voice (IWV), Independent Women's Law Center (IWLC), and Independent Women's Network (IWN).
Our Bodies, Our Sports believes that taking opportunities from women and giving them to men doesn't enforce Title IX, it violates it.
"The administration is turning back the clock on women's rights and declaring us unworthy of protection and opportunity," said Paula Scanlan, former teammate of Lia Thomas who was forced to undress with him up to 18 times per week at the University of Pennsylvania.
Tennis legend and member of the Women's Sports Policy Working Group Martina Navratilova said including men who identify as women in women's sports is simply "not possible." "By allowing trans-identified males in women's sports, you're excluding women."
"To assume that women need to bear the burden of someone else's gender identity is a burden that's uniquely put on women," Independent Women's Law Center Director May Mailman said. "It is discriminatory."
"This is the most anti-woman, anti-reality pursuit we have seen from this administration," said 12x All American, Independent Women's Forum ambassador, and OutKick.com host Riley Gaines. "The war on women is in full effect."
While the tour received overwhelming support, not everyone agreed with it. In addition to attacks and name calling from those hidden behind keyboards and usernames, overnight vandals defaced the "Take Back Title IX" bus following an Our Bodies, Our Sports rally in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The attack boosted enthusiasm and engagement leading into the tour's final leg of events.
The final stretch of the tour took place during National Women's Sports Week [June 23-29], initiated by Independent Women's Forum in 2022 and observed annually during the week of June 23 to coincide with the anniversary of Title IX. In recognition of Women's Sports Week, the tour held two special events featuring music performances in Washington, DC, and Nashville, TN, presented by OutKick.com, to celebrate female athletes – past, present, and future – for their athletic participation and achievement in sport.
On the final stops of the tour, supporters had the opportunity to sign two open letters – one to the Biden administration and the other to leadership in Congress. The letters were on display on large 4-ft boards for attendees to sign to showcase the widespread support to protect women's sports and stop the illegal rewrite of Title IX. The letter to Congress urges bipartisan support for the bicameral Congressional Review Act resolution (S.J. Res. 96 & H.J. Res. 165) to overturn the administration's Title IX rule.
The Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition plans additional work this summer and into the fall advocating to support Title IX in its original form and to return fair play for women and girls.
Independent Women's Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren't just well intended but actually enhance people's freedom, choices, and opportunities.
SOURCE Independent Women's Forum
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