On June 23, 2024, the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour made a significant stop in Washington, DC, to celebrate female athletes and advocate for their protection against the radical changes to Title IX. This stop coincided with National Women’s Sports Week (June 23 – 29), initiated by Independent Women’s Forum in 2022. As part of the week-long commemoration, the DC stop of the bus tour featured captivating music performances to honor the achievements of female athletes in sports. Independent Women’s Network’s Loudoun County, Virginia, Chapter attended the bus tour’s DC rally, showing their unwavering support for girls’ sports and the Our Bodies, Our Sports movement.
Suzanne Satterfield, IWN Loudoun County Chapter Leader, expressed her gratitude for the overwhelming support at the “Our Bodies, Our Sports” rally in DC. Satterfield stated, “The temperature in DC was exceedingly hot at the ‘Our Bodies, Our Sports Rally,’ and it was turned up even higher by all of those that came to support the female athletes, coaches, and organizations calling for the need to keep female sports exclusive of males. We refuse to sit on the sidelines, as Loudoun County is not immune to this male invasion. The Loudoun County Public School District has boys participating on girls’ teams and using their locker rooms. One male has even gone on to compete at the collegiate level in women’s volleyball.”
Riley Gaines, an ambassador for Independent Women’s Forum, condemned the Biden administration’s actions, stating, “This is the most anti-woman, anti-reality pursuit we have seen from this administration. The war on women is in full effect.”
Throughout the tour, renowned female athletes and coaches traveled across 30 states in 30 days, educating the public about the detrimental consequences of the unlawful changes to Title IX and the threat they pose to women’s and girls’ sex-based spaces, including sports. The Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour held its final rally in Nashville on June 28, 2024. The tour’s efforts to raise awareness and garner support have been instrumental in advocating for the repeal of the new Title IX rewrite. As the August 1 deadline approaches, the importance of preserving the integrity of women’s sports remains at the forefront of the national conversation.
