Pennsylvania Dad-Lawmakers Rally to Push Bill to Safeguard Girls’ Sports Integrity

A coalition of Pennsylvania father-lawmakers rallied on Oct. 29 in the state Capitol’s Ryan Office Building atrium to promote legislation that would bar males from female sports teams in public schools and colleges.

The event, titled “Dad Legislators Call for Action to Defend Daughters in Sports,” highlighted House Bill 1849—“Dads Defending Daughters”—introduced on Sept. 5 by Republican state Reps. Clint Owlett, Eric Davanzo, Joe D’Orsie, Jonathan Fritz, and Joe Hamm.

The measure would require all public K–12 schools and state-funded colleges to designate athletic programs as male, female, or coed, and limit female categories to female athletes. It would take effect immediately upon enactment.

The lawmakers urged fathers across Pennsylvania to support the bill, saying the legislation is a moral obligation to ensure fair competition and safe spaces for female athletes.

High School Nightmare Fuels Grassroots Fight

Lily Williams, a former Hempfield School District student-athlete from Lancaster County, shared a chilling account that galvanized the crowd. In spring 2021, the girls’ track and field team entered their locker room to find a male cross-country runner sitting on their bench. His repeated presence there left the girls silent and unnerved; Williams, familiar with transgender athlete discussions but unprepared for it happening in her small town, fielded teammates’ confusion, frustration, and anger, as senior captain of the team. The bigger, stronger, and faster athlete’s presence inflicted a real psychological toll on them, transforming the locker room—a sanctuary of privacy, security, and intimacy for them—into a zone of distress and anxiety, she said. Many girls fled to porta-potties to change.

Williams said that when she confronted a coach, she was told nothing could be done, and discussion of the topic was forbidden. A team meeting mandated they simply “deal with it,” she said. Her principal dismissed her, leaving her humiliated, she said. Expecting parental outrage, Williams, with the support of her father, escalated it to the school board. Supportive members engaged, and with the Pennsylvania Family Institute’s help, a movement erupted.

Williams, her mother, and teammates spoke at every meeting, inspiring others from the community.

“Boldness begot boldness,” she said.

The next year, the board enacted a policy excluding boys from girls’ teams—who hailed it as compassionate common sense. Williams stressed this as a human, spiritual, and moral issue.

“I was accused of hatred, of bigotry, of ‘phobia,'” she said.

“But the truth is, I didn’t hate this boy. I care deeply for him. To me, he was and is a fellow human being made in the image of God, and he deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

“It’s not hate to tell the truth. It’s not cruelty to believe women and girls deserve fair competition, and it is not intolerance to want your daughters safe in locker rooms and bathrooms.

“Men do not belong in women’s sports. That is not controversial, that is not extreme. That is fairness, that is equality, and that is justice.”

Collegiate Experience Highlights Policy Challenges

Paula Scanlan, senior fellow at the American Principles Project and former University of Pennsylvania Division I swimmer, described her team’s experience with Lia Thomas, a 6-foot-4 male athlete who identifies as transgender. University officials discouraged public discussion, advising swimmers that speaking out against it could lead to professional repercussions, and suggesting counseling for those who were uncomfortable with the arrangement, Scanlan said. Thomas competed on the women’s team, utilizing the locker room around 18 times per week, and has won an NCAA Division I national championship and has been nominated for the NCAA’s “Woman of the Year.”

Scanlan says she sees the situation as part of a larger political debate that goes far beyond athletics.

She now collaborates with lawmakers on related legislation, focusing on outreach to younger generations through campus programs and open discussion. “It’s so important to have these conversations and reach people early,” she said, crediting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was recently assassinated, as an early inspiration. “He did a wonderful job of doing all that. He was someone I looked up to, and I know he would want us to keep talking.”

Father-Lawmakers Lead the Charge

Rep. Clint Owlett, lead sponsor of House Bill 1849, urged fathers to step up.

“To all the dads out there, this is the top line message: Your daughters need you,” he said.

He praised the women who are already fighting but stressed that their husbands and dads must now lead on “right to fair play, right to safe locker rooms, and the chance to compete.”

“I’m the prime sponsor of this bill. There’s a there’s a group of five of us that are working on it together,” Owlett told The Epoch Times,

“It is time for dads to do the exact same thing, be out front in this battle in defending our daughters’ right to fair competition, right to safe places to change, and be able to engage in female sports.

“So that’s what we’re doing. We’re standing up. We’re fighting for this. We’re going to defend our daughters, and we’re going to demand action here in Pennsylvania.”

Bipartisan Support for Fairness

Rep. Joe D’Orsie highlighted overwhelming bipartisan backing, with eight out of 10 Pennsylvanians—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—agreeing that girls shouldn’t have to compete against or undress in front of men or boys.

As a former Division I athlete and father to a little girl, he called it personal. He painted a vivid picture: an athlete training to win a scholarship, only to lose to a male who outpaced or overpowered her.

“My daughter deserves better than that,” he said, extending it to Williams, Scanlan, and the more than 65 Pennsylvania girls who’ve lost placements or medals to males.

D’Orsie called on fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and brothers to stand up and protect aspiring female athletes and girls who find joy in sports, saying, “There is no better time than now to ensure a level playing field for our Pennsylvania girls.”

Broader Voices Echo Common Sense

“We are united in defending women’s sports,” Rep. Jonathan Fritz told the Epoch Times.

“We mean keeping biological males out of female sports. Males have a larger heart, lungs, muscle mass, bone density, and it’s simply unfair and, frankly, unsafe. This is a matter of fairness and dignity. Not a partisan issue. This is about fundamental fairness.

“Our nation needs a righting of the ship. There are fundamental things that are so core and so simple and so common sense. This is one of those key items.”

As a father whose daughter played basketball and was a cheerleader, Fritz underscored sports’ role in teaching sharing, leadership, hard work, and dealing with differences. He noted that 86 percent of women in corporate leadership played sports in high school or college, highlighting their role in developing those skills.

“We really need to fight to preserve this place for women,” he said.

Allies Amplify the Urgency

Frank Murphy, former NFL player and chair of the Athletes for America Coalition, views it as his purpose to motivate dads to “get off the bench and get into the game,” ensuring girls’ fair shot at winning, learning, and growing.

Speaking to The Epoch Times, Murphy said his passion comes from faith and purpose. As a father of two daughters—one a cheerleader and dance athlete—he feels a duty to use his platform to defend fairness in women’s athletics, he said.

“I will never understand why people don’t think this is fair and this is right,” he said.

Murphy aims to change the narrative for both men and women in athletics.

Thomas J. Shaheen, vice president for policy at the Pennsylvania Family Council, told The Epoch Times that protecting women’s sports is crucial, particularly for young girls who must compete and share locker rooms with boys.

“As a father of daughters who competed in swimming, I can’t imagine them facing this challenge,” he said.

Shaheen called for a uniform policy in schools to ensure women’s sports remain only for women. He also expressed concern over the erosion of protections for women established in the 1970s and the growing risks of injuries, reiterating support for bills to safeguard women’s sports.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the University of Pennsylvania and the school board of Hempfield School District for comment.

Steve Wen contributed to this report.