TRANS DUPLICITY: Spanberger Presents Herself as Moderate on Boys in Girls’ Sports, But Her Record Tells a Different Story
Last week, Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger broke her silence on the issue of boys competing as transgender athletes in girls’ sports, presenting herself as a moderate in favor of parental input and local control. This contrasts with her voting record in Congress, however.
“In Virginia, we previously until very recently, had a process in place, where on an individual, one-by-one basis, schools, parents, principals, coaches were making decisions based on fairness, competitiveness, and safety where a child might be able, or might not be able, to play in a particular sport,” Spanberger said in an interview on Sept. 23.
She said the policy had been in place for ten years, and that roughly 40 kids had gone through it.
“I think that that was a system that was working,” Spanberger added.
The Virginia High School League
The Virginia High School League, which determines the rules for K-12 sports in the Old Dominion, long maintained a policy like the one Spanberger described.
Until February, the league allowed boys who identify as girls to compete on girls’ teams in some circumstances. The policy required students or their parents to submit documents including a written statement of gender identity; letters from parents, friends, and/or teachers confirming the gender identity; a list of all the student’s prescribed medications; and verification from a health care professional. A school district committee would review these materials and work with the league to render a decision.
Mike McCall, the league’s communications director, told The Daily Signal that its executive committee voted on Feb. 10 to bring the league into compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
“I can share with you that from 2020-24, the [Virginia High School League] heard 30 appeals, granting 27 and denying three,” McCall said. “In 2021-22, the organization granted 10 appeals, a high during the five-year stretch.”
“In the 2024-25 school year, five appeals were heard, four were granted and one was denied,” he added. “In other words, four student-athletes were allowed to play and one wasn’t.”
The current policy forbids boys from competing in girls’ sports, with the exception of cheerleading, and allows girls who identify as boys to compete in boys’ sports, largely keeping the old requirements in place for that eventuality.
From 2014 through January, 48 students applied to compete in opposite-sex sports, and the league approved 42, denied five, and issued no decision in one case where the parent did not sign the waiver request.
Spanberger’s Voting Record
While the Democrat candidate accurately presented the old policy, her own voting record does not suggest she holds a moderate stance focused on parental rights or local control.
Spanberger has loudly supported legislation that would have enforced transgender ideology on a federal level, requiring schools to open girls’ sports to boys’ participation, so long as they claim to identify as girls.
Spanberger cosponsored the “Equality Act” in 2019, 2021, and 2023. She voted for the legislation each time the House considered it.
The “Equality Act” would amend federal civil rights legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, inserting new language into the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which desegregated public schools.
Spanberger also voted against H.R. 734, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act of 2023, which would have prevented boys from competing in girls’ sports.
Not only did the Democrat vote for the “Equality Act” and against the women’s sports bill, but she also criticized Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., over his model policies bringing parental rights into discussions of transgender identity in schools.
“Governor Youngkin released a plan to target LGBTQ children in Virginia schools,” Spanberger wrote in 2021. “His mandate will out kids, require their identities not be respected, and hurt them in the very places where they are supposed to learn and thrive.”
As for “outing” kids, the policy states that “schools shall defer to parents to make the best decisions with respect to their children,” regarding health care, names, pronouns, counseling, and social transition at school. It seems Spanberger’s major concern is that schools would disclose a child’s stated transgender identity to his or her parents, as that is the only “outing” the guidelines suggest.
Does Spanberger oppose schools notifying parents if their kids identify as transgender at school?
While Spanberger did not specifically address the Youngkin policies’ suggestion that schools segregate sports based on biological sex, rather than gender identity, she reiterated her voting record on transgender issues.
“In Congress, I have been a stalwart supporter of LGBTQ rights, the Equality Act, and marriage equality,” she added.
Transgender activist groups such as the Human Rights Campaign have endorsed Spanberger in the gubernatorial race, in part due to these stances.
The Spanberger campaign did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about whether the candidate’s positions on these issues has changed.
“It is critical that our elected officials create policies that protect the safety and privacy of young girls and uphold fairness in female sports,” Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation in Virginia, told The Daily Signal. “However, Abigail Spanberger’s votes against the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act and for the Equality Act, demonstrate a willingness to allow biological males to compete on girls’ sports teams and enter sex-segregated bathrooms and locker rooms, putting young girls at risk of physical and mental harm.”
