Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the Save Women’s Sports Act on June 15, keeping men from competing in women’s intercollegiate sports.

The bill, SB 15, also stipulates that in mixed competition a biological male cannot take a position that is designated for female students.

Women competing in all school sports are now protected in the Lone Star State, as the legislature had passed a measure in 2021 protecting elementary through high school interscholastic sports. That bill also required students to compete based on biological sex, rather than “gender identity.”

Texas Values, a Focus on the Family ally that works for policies protecting life, marriage, family and religious freedom, applauded the bill’s passage, thanking the many groups that supported the Save Women’s Sports Act.

Mary Elizabeth Castle, Texas Values director of government relations, told The College Fix the legislation was “a huge victory for Texas women college athletes.”

She added:

“The voices of the University of Texas alumni women college athletes who spoke out against Lia ‘Will’ Thomas swimming in the women’s NCAA championship were heard and answered. The laws in Texas to protect female sports from kindergarten to college simply ensure the fairness, safety and victory in sports that Title IX has promised for the past 50 years.”

Tragedies sometimes end quietly or without national fanfare, like on June 19, 1865, when Union forces arrived by ship in Galveston Bay to finally enforce the end of slavery, thereby officially terminating the immoral practice all across the United States.

Major General Gordon Granger, who had served courageously during the Civil War, was given command of Texas. Arriving in the port city, he read and delivered what was known as General Order Number 3:

“The people [of Texas] are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain [quietly] at their present homes and work for wages.”

Keep in mind, Texas slaves, who numbered over 250,000, were unaware the war had even ended two months earlier. Nearly 3,750,000 other slaves had been emancipated after the South surrendered to the North.

Understandably, the announcement in Galveston was met with great emotion and celebration as word spread across the state. At first, the day was almost exclusively celebrated by black Americans. Known as “Juneteenth” — a colloquial term — it was also called “Freedom Day” or “Emancipation Day.” Juneteenth became a national holiday in 2021.

Nearly three weeks into “Pride month,” Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers remain the only team to not hold an event to commemorate June’s focus on LGBT issues. Good for them.

As you can imagine, the team has been fielding all types of criticism. In a statement, the team responded:

“Our commitment is to make everyone feel welcome and included in Rangers baseball. That means in our ballpark, at every game, and in all we do — for both our fans and our employees. We deliver on that promise across our many programs to have a positive impact across our entire community.”

In other words, the team doesn’t feel it’s necessary to single out one special interest group or cause over another. Everyone is welcome — every game. A former employee of the club, upset with the Arlington franchises’ refusal to be bullied into going along with the trend, gave a telling interview to The Athletic, confirming what many of us have long suspected.

“(The silence) is deafening,” the former Ranger employee lamented. “The fact of the matter is it’s a free marketing opportunity, it doesn’t cost them anything personally and they can boost revenue by looking inclusive.”

Looking inclusive.

You can be sure that many teams, if not the majority of them, have simply gone along to 1) avoid criticism and 2) appear open-minded.