U.S. Senators Jim Banks (R-IN) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced bipartisan legislation that would protect women’s spaces on college campuses.
The legislation seeks to protect single-sex spaces and women’s organizations, specifically sororities.
The proposed Freedom of Association in Higher Education Act of 2025 would “protect any student in a single-sex social organization” by “limiting membership only to individuals of one sex.”
In addition to sororities, the legislation would also apply to fraternities and other single-sex off-campus organizations.
The legislation is meant to protect single-sex organizations and members from discrimination by university administrations, stating it would “ensure” single-sex organizations and members are “treated without bias.”
“Students should be free to form and join single-sex organizations like fraternities and sororities without facing punishment. This bill protects students’ freedom to associate, uphold tradition, and choose the communities they want to be a part of,” Senator Jim Banks’ statement reads.
[RELATED: Illinois mom speaks out against school policy on transgender bathroom access]
Campus Reform has reported the ongoing legal battles to preserve women’s spaces on campus.
The University of Wyoming Kappa-Kappa-Gamma chapter was the first to welcome a male member into a women’s sorority.
A 21-year-old male was permitted to live in sorority housing, where he was accused by sorority women of “peeping” on them while having “an erection visible through his leggings.”
Seven members of the chapter sued the sorority, but despite the transgender-identifying individual’s alleged innapropriate conduct, a federal judge ruled he could remain in the chapter.
Colleges and universities have also opened women’s spaces like bathrooms and dormitories to include men.
The University of Chicago and Carnegie Mellon University implemented gender-inclusive bathroom policies that allow men to use women’s restrooms, according to Campus Reform.
Earlier this month, an Illinois mother voiced her concerns about a gender-inclusive bathroom policy at her daughter’s public school. She said her 13-year-old daughter was nearly forced to change her clothing in the presence of a male.
Campus Reform reported a similar concern from a Utah mother who said her daughter was forced to share a college dormitory with a male.
While these instances show women have faced an erasure of privacy, some women who shave spoken out have faced consequences.
Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player who faced a traumatic brain injury after being spiked in the face by a male player, was reportedly kicked out of her Western Carolina University sorority Delta Zeta for speaking out against a male in a women’s bathroom.
“I was kicked out of my sorority for stating the simple truth: men don’t belong in women’s bathrooms,” McNabb stated on X.
I was kicked out of my sorority for stating the simple truth: men don’t belong in women’s bathrooms.
Instead of standing by me, they chose to appease a grown man living in a false reality. The organization meant to empower women turned its back on one to protect a lie.… https://t.co/Jqilkk9GJv
— Payton McNabb (@paytonmcnabb_) March 7, 2025
McNabb filmed an incident of a man inside a women’s restroom because “she felt unsafe,” as posted by Riley Gaines on X.
Payton McNabb, the volleyball player who was permanently injured by a male player, was kicked out of her sorority after filming a man in her restroom because she felt unsafe.
Is this what “sisterhood” stands for, @DeltaZetaNatl? You’re a disgrace to women. pic.twitter.com/5zcnnyOZKz
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) March 7, 2025
An incident report from Delta Zeta’s National Resolution Team states that McNabb’s membership was terminated for violations of their “anti-bullying policy” and “prejudicial conduct.”
“Instead of standing by me, they chose to appease a grown man living in a false reality. The organization meant to empower women turned its back on one to protect a lie,” McNabb stated.
This article was originally published at campusreform.org
