‘Defending Our Daughters’ campaign

Continuing his advocacy for fairness in women’s sports, Rep. Jeff Olsommer (R-Wayne/Pike) is inviting people to join the “Defending Our Daughters” campaign to show support for the Commonwealth’s female athletes.

All Pennsylvanians are invited to sign the “I Believe” promise to highlight the rights of girls to have a safe, fair and equal playing field; to compete to win games, championships and titles; to earn scholarships; and to have private locker rooms spaces, without males being present.

The promise also reinforces the shared responsibility of all Pennsylvanians, and specifically the state’s leaders, to get off the sidelines to protect and defend female athletes.

“Our female athletes deserve to compete on a level playing field and to be safe – whether in the locker room, on a court or any other field of play,” Olsommer said. “This is a commonsense issue, and to paint our concerns as controversial or discriminatory is a disservice and simply not true.”

The “I Believe” promise is available online for people to sign at https://shorturl.at/hYOE7. Hard copies are also available in Olsommer’s office, located at 2523 Route 6, Suite 2, in Hawley. The information will be shared with Gov. Josh Shapiro and House leaders to support action on the issue this year.

So far this session, majority House Democrats have avoided votes on three different bills aimed at protecting women’s sports. Senate Bill 9, which passed the Senate with bipartisan support in May, was initially – and appropriately – referred to the House Education Committee. To avoid a discharge resolution, the bill was re-referred to the Health Committee and is now in the Judiciary Committee.

House Bills 158 and 1849 were also initially referred to the Education Committee but were re-referred to Judiciary in December, Olsommer said.