Testimony By Amy Waychoff
Please send emails to the House Ways and Means Committee (see email addresses below) before January 29, when the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) will hear the bill. If possible, please submit testimony on the MGA website between 8 am and 6 pm on Monday. Contact Amy Waychoff, [email protected], 240-393-5550, for help.
HB 156
House Ways and Means Committee
Support
Amy Waychoff
Montgomery County, LD 18
January 29, 2025
My name is Amy Waychoff and I have lived in Montgomery County for over 37 years. Thank you for this opportunity to testify in support of HB 156, the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act.
As a competitor in volleyball, softball and tennis when I was a teenager, I have fond memories about how those activities improved my self esteem, and in particular, my body image. Being with a group of other teens of the same sex all working toward a common goal was empowering.
Today, we have decided that Title IX is not meant to empower women, but to empower men with gender dysphoria who think they are entitled to play girls’ and women’s sports. This movement is taking Title IX and twisting it like a pretzel into something unrecognizable.
In 2023, a top NCAA female swimmer from the University of Kentucky spoke out about her experiences competing against transgender athlete Lia Thomas. According to Riley Gaines, the most traumatic part of the competition was not in the swimming pool, but in the locker room: “We did not give our consent, they did not ask for our consent, but in that locker room we turned around and there’s a 6’4” biological man dropping his pants and watching us undress. . . . [A year or two ago] this would have been considered some form of sexual assault [or] voyeurism.” She added that “it’s my duty as a female athlete who experienced this injustice . . . to advocate for those female athletes who are emotionally blackmailed and gaslit into silence.”
Women deserve to have their dressing rooms, and the opportunities for sports scholarships, reserved for their own sex. I therefore strongly support the Fairness in Girls’ Sports Act.
Thank you for this opportunity to testify.
House Ways and Means Committee