Ex-Roanoke swimmer speaks out against Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger for axing women's sports protection

Former Roanoke College swimmer Lily Mullens, who helped lead a public stand against a transgender athlete joining her women’s team, is speaking out after Virginia Gov.

Abigail Spanberger’s administration withdrew a proposed regulation intended to protect female-only sports and private spaces.

Mullens was one of three female swimmers who formally petitioned the Virginia State Board of Health to enact the regulation, along with Hungarian Olympian Réka György and former Roanoke teammate Carter Satterfield.

"Up until recently, due to Governor Youngkin’s leadership, which was founded in truth, Virginia was making tremendous strides toward finally doing the right thing and protecting females by keeping men out of women’s sports and spaces for good.

However, under the new 'leadership' of Governor Spanberger, that progress has come to a screeching halt," Mullens told OutKick .

VIRGINIA GOVERNOR ABIGAIL SPANBERGER QUIETLY ROLLS BACK YOUNGKIN'S PLANS TO PROTECT GIRLS' SPORTS "By failing to be open with the public about her decision months ago, she is signaling to the people of Virginia that she does not care about the female athletes in this state and she is aware that she is going against what the people want.

As a woman herself, I had hoped that she would understand the importance of this issue and the petition I signed a year ago, but I have been proven wrong.

"As I continue to read about this failure and think about the current state of Virginia, I find myself questioning what kind of leader Spanberger wants to be.

As someone with personal experience of what this situation can do to a team, a program, a school, or any person involved, I want to ask her why she would choose to be the type of leader who cowers to gender ideology.

The type of leader whom people depend on, only to be let down.

The type of leader who allows girls to feel inadequate and defeated, as my teammates and I once did.

"The truth is, and always will be, that men and women are biologically different.

Virginia had a leader who understood this fact and did everything he could to protect women.

I am saddened and disappointed to see such hard work thrown away, especially by a woman." OLYMPIC SWIMMER RÉKA GYÖRGY CALLS OUT VIRGINIA GOVERNOR SPANBERGER FOR WITHDRAWING FEMALE SPORTS REGULATION Mullens and several Roanoke College teammates attracted national attention in 2023 when they objected to a transgender student joining the women’s swimming team .