Texas Dem Allred says he opposes 'boys in girls' sports' despite past of allowing it, fighting parental rights
Texas congressional representative Colin Allred released a campaign ad on Friday in which he stated he "doesn't want boys playing girls' sports." However, Allred has a vast legislative history of supporting bills that would enable transgender biological males in both girls' and women's sports at the youth and collegiate levels.
The Democratic House of Representatives member, who is now running for U.S. Senate, released the ad in response to recent attacks from his opponent, Ted Cruz, who has tried to link Allred to support for transgender inclusion in women's and girls' sports.
"I'm a dad, I'm also a Christian, and my faith has taught me that all kids are God's kids. So let me be clear, I don't want boys playing girls' sports, or any of this ridiculous stuff Ted Cruz is saying," Allred said in the ad.
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A new ad paid for by Cruz’s campaign aired during NFL games in Texas last weekend and claimed that Allred wanted an "extreme liberal vision for America" for wanting to allow "boys in girls’ sports." Cruz is reportedly set to run another ad, the third addressing the subject, this upcoming NFL Sunday.
Allred is a former NFL linebacker who played for the Tennessee Titans from 2006 to 2010 after a college career at Baylor. He announced his Senate campaign to challenge Cruz in May 2023 and then won his party's nomination back in early March of this year.
Texas is one of 23 states in the U.S. with state laws in place to prevent transgender inclusion in women's sports. Allred has been an opponent of those efforts dating back to the very first year of his congressional career. As recently as June 2023, he cosponsored a law that "would force public schools to allow biologically male athletes who identify as transgender on girls’ sports teams."
Allred was previously elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 32nd district in the 2018 midterms. Just months after assuming office the following January, he cosponsored and voted for the Equality Act, "which would require schools to include male athletes who identify as transgender girls on female sports teams," in May 2019.
It was only the first instance of him contributing to efforts to promote transgender inclusion in women's sports.
In February 2021, Allred cosponsored and voted for a revised version of the Equality Act. This version went a step further to ensure that "individuals who identify as another gender cannot be denied access to the locker room of their choice."
Two months later, in April 2021, days after the Texas Senate passed a bill "that would force young athletes to compete in sports that align with the sex designated on their birth certificate as it was stated at or around birth," Allred praised business leaders for opposing the legislation in a post on X.
"I thank the business leaders and [Texas Competes] for coming out in opposition to these harmful, anti-trans bills moving through the Texas legislature. An inclusive Texas that welcomes everyone, is good for business," Allred wrote.
Then in October of that year, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a bill into law restricting transgender student athletes from playing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity. Allred wrote in a post on X (then known as Twitter), "Texas should be a place where our young people can be who they are, free from discrimination. This is yet another dark, shameful moment for our state as the GOP in Texas is more focused on attacking trans students than fixing the real problems we face."
Allred went so far as to advocate for a transgender bill of rights. In March 2023, he cosponsored a resolution "Recognizing that it is the duty of the Federal Government to develop and implement a Transgender Bill of Rights." The resolution specifically called for federal law to ensure that biological men can "participate in sports on teams and in programs that best align with their gender identity; [and] use school facilities that best align with their gender identity."
Allred has also supported efforts that would impede parents' right to intervene and prevent transgender athletes from competing against their daughters.
Allred voted against the Parents Bill of Rights Act. A provision in the bill "requires school districts to alert parents if their child is sharing a bathroom, locker room or sports team with a student of the opposite biological sex," in March 2023.
In response to a request for comment from Fox News Digital on clarification of Allred's stance and history on the issue of transgender athletes in women's sports, his campaign provided a statement directed at Cruz.
"Ted Cruz has been in office forever, but he has nothing to run on but lies and division. Unlike Ted Cruz, Congressman Allred has a real record to run on. A record of creating jobs, lowering costs and protecting Social Security and Medicare. Ted Cruz is resorting to these desperate attacks because he’ll say anything to get re-elected," Allred's campaign manager Paige Hutchinson wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital.
Transgender inclusion in women's sports has become one of the hot button issues of the 2024 election cycle.
In June, a survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago asked respondents to weigh in on whether trans athletes of both sexes should be permitted to participate in sports leagues that correspond to their preferred gender identity instead of their biological sex, and 65% answered that it should either be never or rarely be allowed. When those polled were asked specifically about adult trans female athletes competing on women’s sports teams, 69% opposed it.
Former president Trump has taken a firm stance against transgender inclusion in his campaign for the White House. Trump's wife, former first lady Melania Trump, also recently spoke out against allowing biological men in women's sports in her new memoir "Melania," despite admittedly disagreeing with most Republican principles on LGBT rights.
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration has taken sweeping actions to enable transgender inclusion.
In April, the administration issued a sweeping rule that clarified that Title IX’s ban on "sex" discrimination in schools covers discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation and "pregnancy or related conditions."
The rule took effect Aug. 1, and for the first time, the law stated that discrimination based on sex includes conduct related to a person’s gender identity. The Biden administration insisted that the regulation does not address athletic eligibility. However, multiple experts presented evidence to Fox News Digital in June that Biden's claims that it would not result in biological men participating in women's sports were not true and that the proposal would ultimately put more biological men in women's sports.
The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject a Biden emergency request to enforce portions of that new rule that includes protection from discrimination for transgender students under Title IX, after more than two dozen Republican attorneys general sued to block the Title IX changes in their own states.
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