DeSantis’ Office: Opposition From NCAA, ‘Woke’ Corporations ‘Strengthened His Resolve’ To Protect Girls

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis was “strengthened” in his resolve to sign a bill into law that protected girls from having to compete against biological males in sports because of the opposition that he faced from outside groups.

“When he heard that the NCAA was kind of threatening that they would pull out of events here in Florida or in any state that signed these types of bills, that strengthened his resolve because he doesn’t want to be bullied or allow the people of Florida to be bullied by this organization or by woke corporations,” DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told The Daily Caller. “I know the corporate pressure is very strong from some sides on this issue and I wouldn’t be surprised if the corporate pressure was strong in other states as well.”

“All of this pressure just makes Governor DeSantis even stronger in his conviction to do the right thing, to do what he knows will be best for the people of Florida,” Pushaw added.

DeSantis signed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” into law on Tuesday that does the following:

• Maintains opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their strength, skills, and athletic abilities and to provide them with opportunities to obtain recognition and accolades, college scholarships, and numerous other long-term benefits that result from participating and competing in athletic endeavors.
• Strengthens educational opportunities for military families by allowing state universities to expand high-quality developmental laboratory schools to serve communities around military installations.
• Paves innovative pathways for students to access industry certification and workforce education by allowing Florida College System and State University System institutions to sponsor charter schools to meet regional workforce demands.
• Empowers students to pursue high-wage STEM professions by expanding access to the Florida Private Student Assistance Program grant award to include full-time certificate-seeking students at an aviation maintenance school.
• Requires each public school to provide parents with information on the role swimming lessons and water safety education plays in saving lives, including free and reduced cost options for swimming lessons and safety courses.

“We believe in the state of Florida, of protecting the fairness and the integrity of women’s athletics,” DeSantis said at yesterday’s signing. “And I can tell you this in Florida, you know, girls are going to play girl’s sports and boys are going play boy’s sports, that’s what we’re doing. We’re going to make sure that that’s the reality. So the bill that we’re doing today will ensure fairness for women athletes for years to come in the state of Florida. It says that athletic teams or sports that are designated for females are open to females. And we’re going to go based off biology.”

During a Fox News interview on Tuesday night, DeSantis directly addressed the threats from the NCAA, saying, “And so if the price of having a tournament is that I have to deny equal opportunity to hundreds of thousands of young girl and women athletes throughout Florida, I am much more willing to stand with the girls. And to hell with these events.”

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