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Texas Gov. Abbott signed SB 15 barring transgender college athletes from competing under their gender identity

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 15, the "Save Women's Sports Act," requiring students at public institutions of higher education to compete in intercollegiate athletics based on their biological sex assigned at birth. The law bars transgender college athletes from competing consistent with their gender identity and extends a 2021 Texas law that had already imposed the same restriction on K-12 student-athletes. It took effect September 1, 2023.

Jurisdiction
Texas
Location
Austin, Texas

Abuses documented

Actors

On June 18, 2023, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 15 (88th Legislature, Regular Session), the "Save Women's Sports Act," into law, requiring students who compete in intercollegiate athletic competitions at Texas public institutions of higher education to do so based on their biological sex assigned at birth. The requirement bars transgender college athletes from competing on teams consistent with their gender identity. The law took effect September 1, 2023.

SB 15 extends to the collegiate level a 2021 Texas law that had already restricted K-12 transgender student-athletes to teams matching their sex assigned at birth. At the signing, Abbott framed the measure as protecting women's sports, while civil-liberties advocates and LGBTQ groups said it excluded transgender women from equal participation in public college athletics. The bill passed the Texas Senate and House during the 88th Regular Session before Abbott signed it.

Why we recorded this

Equal civic membership requires that people not be excluded from public institutions and opportunities on the basis of who they are. Texas enacted a law requiring students at public colleges and universities to compete in intercollegiate athletics according to their sex assigned at birth, barring transgender women from women's teams at the collegiate level. This archive records when a government writes a class of people out of equal participation in a public program through a categorical, identity-based exclusion.

Sources

  1. 88(R) History for SB 15 — Texas Legislature Online primary accessed July 17, 2026
  2. Gov. Abbott signs bill forcing transgender college athletes to compete in sports as their sex at birth — FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth secondary accessed July 17, 2026
  3. Texas bill would restrict the college sports teams trans athletes can join — The Texas Tribune investigative accessed July 17, 2026

See also