The Supreme Court said states can keep boys out of girls’ sports. Weeks later, Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration quietly shelved Virginia’s effort to do exactly that.

At Virginia Pridefest in Richmond on Saturday, Gov. Abigail Spanberger told the crowd that a transgender child’s story had moved her deeply. She said, “I burst into tears,” and promised the LGBTQ+ community a governor who values them. (Radio IQ)

Then she confirmed what her administration had done months earlier, with no announcement: it killed the state rulemaking meant to keep biological boys out of girls’ sports and girls’ locker rooms.

Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. That includes the girls who train for years for a fair shot at a spot on the team, a podium finish, or a scholarship. Spanberger’s tears were for one side of this debate. Virginia’s daughters deserve a governor who stands up for them too.

What Spanberger Did

In October 2025, Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked the Virginia Board of Health to write a rule protecting the health of women and girls. The rule would have limited transgender girls’ participation in girls’ sports and their use of girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms. (Radio IQ)

Spanberger’s administration intervened without public notice, and the state rulemaking docket shows the effort was withdrawn in late July. No news release went out. People familiar with the decision say Spanberger consulted Attorney General Jay Jones’ office and concluded the Board of Health lacked the authority to write the rule. Those close to her also say she didn’t want to invite more fights over the issue. (Radio IQ)

Asked about it after her Pridefest speech, Spanberger said, “There’s no legal authority to move forward with rulemaking.” (LGBTQ Nation)

If the Board of Health is the wrong tool, the governor has another one: she can ask the General Assembly to write the protection into state law. She hasn’t.

The Timing Tells the Story

On June 30, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that neither Title IX nor the Constitution stops states from keeping girls’ sports teams for biological girls. (Justia / U.S. Supreme Court) Advocates on the other side acknowledged the ruling allows states to act; it just doesn’t force them to. (Equality Virginia)

The door was wide open. A few weeks later, Spanberger’s administration closed it.

Virginia girls have been relying mainly on a Virginia High School League rule the league adopted in February 2025 to comply with President Trump’s executive order. (Washington Blade) Civil rights groups have pushed the league this year to reverse it. (National Women’s Law Center) Without a state rule or state law, Virginia girls’ protections depend on who sits in the White House and how one league votes.

She Told Voters a Different Story

During the campaign, Spanberger’s team said the Virginia High School League and the NCAA should set their own policies on transgender athletes. (Daily Progress) That sounded moderate. But back in 2022, when Youngkin announced his policy on school bathrooms and locker rooms, she wrote that it was “downright shameful.” (7News via CBS Austin)

Now, on a Pride stage, the moderate mask is off.

Most Americans Aren’t With Her

This isn’t a fringe position. It’s where most Americans are:

• 66% of adults favor requiring transgender athletes to compete on teams that match their birth sex, and 73% say they’d be uncomfortable with the alternative. (Pew Research Center)
• At the high school level specifically, 55% oppose transgender girls competing against other girls. (University of Maryland / Washington Post poll)

Spanberger isn’t following the mainstream on this. She’s following the loudest activists in her party.

Fairfax Has Seen Where This Leads

Fairfax County Public Schools refused to adopt the Youngkin administration’s 2023 model policies, and the Trump administration moved to restrict federal funding over the district’s transgender student policies. (Associated Press) The U.S. Department of Education said FCPS and four other Northern Virginia divisions were breaking federal law. (Daily Progress)

What You Need To Know:

• Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) quietly withdrew the Youngkin-era proposed rule that would have protected girls’ sports, bathrooms, and locker rooms, then celebrated at Pridefest.
• Attorney General Jay Jones (D) was consulted on the decision, according to people familiar with it.
• The Supreme Court cleared the way on June 30. States can keep girls’ teams for girls. Spanberger chose not to.
• Girls’ protections are now fragile. They rest mainly on a league rule and a presidential executive order, not on Virginia law.
• Democrats have blocked this before. In 2024, the Democrat-controlled Virginia Senate killed bills to keep girls’ sports for girls. (ACLU of Virginia) Today, Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (SD-34, Fairfax) and House Speaker Don Scott lead the chambers that would have to pass a fix.
• Sen. Mark Warner (D) joined every Senate Democrat who voted in March 2025 to block the federal Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which failed 51-45. (The Hill) Warner is on your ballot this November.
• Most Americans disagree with them. Two-thirds back sex-based sports teams.
• Our demand is simple. Governor Spanberger should reverse course and revive the Youngkin-era rule, or send the General Assembly a bill that writes those protections into law.

What You Can Do

Early voting in Virginia begins this Friday, September 18, 2026. (Fairfax County Office of Elections) Mark Warner is on the ballot. Vote, and bring a neighbor.

Call the Governor’s office and tell her to revive protections for Virginia girls. Ask your delegate and state senator where they stand, and remember their answers in November 2027, when every General Assembly seat is on the ballot. Share this article with every sports parent you know.

Common-sense Virginians can care about every child and still say girls deserve their own teams. That’s not extreme. Spanberger’s position is.

Sources: Radio IQ (WVTF) · LGBTQ Nation · U.S. Supreme Court via Justia · Equality Virginia · Washington Blade · National Women’s Law Center · Daily Progress · 7News via CBS Austin · Pew Research Center · UMD / Washington Post poll · Associated Press · ACLU of Virginia · The Hill · Fairfax County Office of Elections