Reinfurt: Protecting Women's Sports Is About Fairness, Safety And Truth

By Sherri Reinfurt, NH Journal

As someone who spent years on the sidelines of professional athletics as an NFL cheerleader, I have a deep and lifelong passion for sports. I know the discipline, sacrifice, and relentless work ethic required to perform at the highest levels. More than anything, I know that athletic competition relies on fair rules, honest standards, and biological reality.

There is a clear, unalterable difference between a man and a woman. In the world of sports, that difference matters.

We are currently witnessing an incredible, historic era for female athletics. From sold-out arenas in the WNBA to the launch of the brand-new Women’s Professional Baseball League, female athletes are commanding the national stage like never before. Young girls in Goffstown and across New Hampshire finally have professional female role models showing them what is possible when hard work meets opportunity.

Yet, at the exact moment women’s sports are taking off, they are facing an existential threat from a vocal minority’s ideology.

Look at what happened recently to Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham. When asked about biological males competing in female divisions, she stated what 80% of Americans know to be plain common sense: Young girls shouldn’t have to compete against biological men, and women’s locker rooms must be protected.

The response from activists was as immediate as it was absurd. Instead of having an honest conversation, they descended. Outside arenas from Seattle to Minneapolis, activists picketed, while crowds inside booed a female athlete simply for standing up for her own sport. It takes immense courage for a professional athlete to stand her ground under that kind of relentless pressure, but Sophie Cunningham spoke the truth.

This isn’t just a debate happening on television or in distant sports arenas; it is playing out right here in New Hampshire.

In the State House, New Hampshire House Republicans have led the charge to pass common-sense policies that protect women and girls. We championed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act (HB 1205) to ensure that female middle and high school athletes compete on a level playing field. We also fought tirelessly for legislation like HB 1442 and SB 552. These are simple, permissive measures that allow schools, sports leagues and local facilities the legal freedom to maintain separate, single-sex bathrooms and locker rooms.

This isn’t about discrimination; it is about dignity, safety, and basic privacy.

We heard heartbreaking testimony at the State House from real women like Judy Walcott, who was kicked out of her local gym simply for reporting a biological male undressing in the women’s locker room, and from 16-year-old athletes who felt forced to cancel their YMCA memberships because adult men were using their private spaces.

When a woman’s privacy in a locker room is compromised or when a young girl loses a roster spot or a championship to a biological male, women lose. It is just that simple.

While polls show that Granite Staters support protecting female-only spaces and sports by an overwhelming 3-to-1 margin, elected Democrats in Concord have chosen to bow to the vocal minority at every turn. House Democrats voted en masse against every single common-sense safety and fairness measure we put forward. They have abandoned common sense to appease their unreasonable activists, putting the safety, privacy, and fair opportunities of our daughters and granddaughters at risk.

Some thought that legislative roadblocks or political setbacks would quiet our resolve or shut down this conversation. They couldn’t be more wrong. House Republicans will never stop fighting for New Hampshire women and girls. We are not backing down. We are not giving up. We will continue pushing these vital protections forward until common sense is fully restored to state law.

As a state representative for Goffstown, I refuse to stay silent while extreme politics erode decades of progress for women. Our girls deserve a fair shot, safe spaces, and a government that respects biology and truth. It is time to stop bowing to the loud minority and stand firm for Granite State women.

State Rep. Sherri Reinfurt is a Republican representing Goffstown in the N.H. House of Representatives. She wrote this for NHJournal.com.

This story was originally published by the NH Journal, an online news publication dedicated to providing fair, unbiased reporting on, and analysis of, political news of interest to New Hampshire. For more stories from the NH Journal, visit NHJournal.com.