In the west, there has been a growing public appetite for legislation to prevent biological males who identify as “transgender” from being able to compete in and dominate women’s sports. Since 2020, at least 23 states in the U.S. have passed legislation to keep men and boys out of female sports.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a similar federal bill, although the Democrat-controlled Senate wouldn’t allow it to be passed.

Well, this public desire to protect female sports and preserve them for girls and women has finally arrived in Canada.

On January, 31 Alberta was the first, with Premier Danielle Smith promising that legislation would soon be introduced to keep biological males out of women’s sports.

And in April, BC Conservative Leader John Rustad introduced a private members bill (No. M 214) to keep biological males off of women's & girls' sports teams, and to punish sporting associations that enable the invasion of female sports by biological males. M 214 would even protect whistle blowers from retaliation by sporting associations.

Titled the Fairness in Women’s and Girls’ Sports Act, this common sense bill sought to protect female athletes who work so hard to be the best in their sport, only to be cheated out of their gold medal or championship trophy by a physically stronger male who identifies as “transgender”.

Unfortunately however, Premier David Eby and the NDP shot down the bill on first reading by a vote of 51- 27, with help from the Green Party caucus. This prompted April Hutchinson, a past member of the Canadian women’s powerlifting team, to condemn the NDP and praise John Rustad.

Thank you @JohnRustad4BC and @Conservative_BC for proposing the Fairness in Women and Girls Sports Act that would ensure safety and fairness for little girls in sports such as my nieces. How could the @bcndp say NO to protecting our future generations? It's disgraceful #bcpoli… pic.twitter.com/0rBhmCwkRp

— April Hutchinson (@Lea_Christina4) May 1, 2024

On social media, many British Columbians are commenting that the defeat of the Fairness in Women’s and Girls’ Sports Act doesn’t matter because once the BC Conservatives form government later this year, it’ll become law.

Let us hope they’re right.