_______________________________________________________________________

The Largest, Most Ideologically Diverse, 

Women’s Movement of Our Time

MEDIA RSVP TO [email protected]

Lackawanna College

Student Union Gymnasium 

500 Jefferson Ave

Scranton, Pennsylvania 18510

Wednesday, May 29

5:00 p.m. ET

(Doors open at 4:30 p.m. ET)

_______________________________________________________________________

SCRANTON, PA — On Wednesday, May 29, members of the media are invited to attend and cover the first stop of the Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour in Scranton, Pennsylvania. This kick-off event will feature current and former athletes, coaches, and prominent women’s advocates. The coast-to-coast bus tour features rally-style events open to the public, as well as press conferences, held in cities and towns throughout the nation to build upon the widespread support to protect women’s sports.

Women’s and girls’ equal athletic opportunity, privacy, and safety will take a  devastating blow when the Biden administration’s illegal Title IX regulations take effect on August 1. The new Title IX rules strip away protections for women — taking opportunities from women and giving them to men. This doesn’t enforce Title IX, it violates it. That was true before the Biden administration dropped this rule, and it is still true today.

The bus tour is hosted by Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition, the nation’s first and only coalition of women’s advocacy organizations from across the political spectrum fighting to protect women’s sports.

EVENT DETAILS:

WHAT: Our Bodies, Our Sports “Take Back Title IX” Summer 2024 Bus Tour Kicks off in Scranton, PA

WHY: Our Bodies, Our Sports is hitting the road from coast to coast this summer, starting in Scranton, Pennsylvania, activating supporters across the country to take back Title IX and stand up for women’s sports. New regulations put out by the Biden administration violate Title IX, the statute they claim to enforce, by requiring schools to open up women’s sports and women’s spaces to males.

WHO: The Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition formed in 2022 to defend women’s sports and the integrity of the female sporting category. Our Bodies, Our Sports is the nation’s first and only coalition of women’s advocacy organizations from across the political spectrum fighting for equal opportunity and fairness in women’s sports.

This event is open to the public. Current and former student athletes and teams of all ages, parents, families, coaches, and other interested parties are encouraged to attend.

SPEAKERS TO INCLUDE:

  • Riley Gaines, 12x All American swimmer, 5x SEC Champion and record holder, Independent Women’s Forum ambassador, and host of “Gaines for Girls” on OutKick
  • Paula Scanlan, former University of Pennsylvania swimmer and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador
  • Jennifer Sey, Founder and CEO of XX-XY Athletics, 7x National Team Member and 1986 National Champion gymnast
  • Payton McNabb, former high school volleyball player and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador 
  • Coach Kim Russell, former Head Women’s Lacrosse Coach at Oberlin College and Independent Women’s Forum ambassador 
  • Selina Soule, 4x National Qualifier sprinter and Alliance Defending Freedom client
  • Macy Petty, NCAA volleyball player and Young Women for America Ambassador 
  • Adriana McLamb, Spokeswoman for Independent Women’s Forum, former D1 volleyball player, coach and recruiter to aspiring collegiate female volleyball players
  • Kara Dansky, president of Women’s Declaration International USA 
  • Coach Barbara Ehardt, former 15-year career NCAA Division I women’s basketball coach; former NCAA basketball player; and current member of the Idaho House of Representatives from the 33rd district
  • Lily Williams, Lancaster, Pennsylvania female athlete

**Mult-box will be provided.**

**There will be media Q&A and opportunities for pull asides.**

Please direct all RSVPs and media inquiries to [email protected]. Press credentials provided at door.

BACKGROUND:

TAKE BACK TITLE IX SUMMER 2024 BUS TOUR

From Scranton, the tour will travel coast to coast throughout the month of June holding events throughout the nation. The tour bus will appear in Oklahoma, Montana, Nevada, Arizona, Nebraska, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, North Carolina, Washington D.C., Virginia, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Wisconsin, and Maryland.

The tour builds on the momentum the Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition has built over the past two years standing up for women and girls — creating the largest, most ideologically diverse women’s movement of our time. 

The Our Bodies, Our Sports coalition formed in 2022 to defend women’s sports and the integrity of the female sporting category. Despite political and ideological differences, members of the coalition stand together with gratitude for the generations of female athletes who came before us and in defense of all the women and girls who will come next. 

Coalition members include Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), Champion Women, Women’s Sports Policy Working Group, International Consortium on Female Sports (ICFS), Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS), the US chapter of Women’s Declaration International (WDI USA), Concerned Women for America (CWA), Young Women for America, Independent Women’s Voice (IWV), Independent Women’s Law Center (IWLC), and Independent Women’s Network (IWN). 

Our Bodies, Our Sports believes that taking opportunities from women and giving them to men doesn’t enforce Title IX, it violates it. That was true before the Biden administration dropped its new Title IX rule, and it is still true today.

On the 52nd anniversary of Title IX (Sunday, June 23, 2024), the “Take Back Title IX” tour will roll into Washington, D.C. and will hold a press conference near the White House, followed by a rally event to commemorate the final annual celebration of the landmark sex equality law before the Biden administration’s unlawful rewrite upends Title IX as we have always known it. The new regulations strip away all sex-based protections in education, undermine women’s rights, and require schools to allow males to self-identify into women’s spaces, opportunities, and athletics. 

The final stretch of the tour takes place during National Women’s Sports Week, initiated by Independent Women’s Forum in 2022 and observed annually during the week of June 23. In recognition of Women’s Sports Week, June 23-June 29, the tour is planning two special events featuring music performances in Washington, DC and Nashville, TN to celebrate female athletes – past, present, and future – for their athletic participation and achievement in sport.

Click HERE to see upcoming stops on the tour.

###

www.ourbodiesoursports.com

www.iwf.org

Independent Women’s Forum is dedicated to developing and advancing policies that aren’t just well intended but actually enhance people’s freedom, choices, and opportunities.