Albuquerque, NM — State Senator Nicole Tobiassen (R-Albuquerque) today celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling upholding state laws that keep transgender athletes out of women's and girls' sports, calling the decision "a long overdue win for fairness and for every girl who just wants a fair shot."
The Court ruled unanimously that state laws in Idaho and West Virginia protecting women's sports do not violate federal civil rights law. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that states may reserve women's and girls' sports for biological females. More than two dozen states, including efforts pushed by Sen. Tobiassen in New Mexico, have pursued similar protections.
"This is what happens when the law catches up to common sense," Tobiassen said. "Women fought too hard, for too many years, to watch their sports be handed to biological men. The Supreme Court said what most New Mexicans already knew: biology matters, and women's sports should be for women."
Tobiassen has pushed this fight at home since long before the Court acted. In 2025, she cosponsored Senate Bill 459, the Protection of Women's Sports Act, to guarantee the same protections for New Mexico's student athletes. The bill was referred to committee and never received a single hearing before it died at the end of session.
"I brought Senate Bill 459 to Santa Fe to protect girls in our schools. Democrats wouldn't even give it a hearing. Not one," Tobiassen said. "They didn't vote no. They didn't debate it. They just made it disappear, because they don't want to have to choose between protecting women and protecting the trans community."
Tobiassen said the ruling gives New Mexico no excuse to keep stalling and confirmed she will reintroduce state legislation to protect women's sports in the next session, arguing the issue is about both fairness and the physical safety of female athletes.
"Democrats love to say they're the party that fights for women, right up until it costs them politically," Tobiassen said. "If they actually wanted to defend women, they could start with a simple question: can any of them even define what a woman is? Until they can answer that, New Mexico women and girls shouldn't buy the act."
Tobiassen pledged to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to bring the legislation back and to demand it finally gets the hearing it was denied in 2025.
