In a move that has deeply unsettled many in the transgender community and their allies, several high-profile conservative figures are launching a statewide bus tour through New Mexico this week to promote federal and state-level efforts to ban transgender girls from women’s sports.
The tour kicks off Monday at the Santa Fe Farmers Market Pavilion, with U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and former New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez headlining the opening event. The initiative is organized by the conservative nonprofit Independent Women’s Forum (IWF), a group that has been vocal in supporting the Trump administration’s anti-transgender policies.
The bus tour, touted as a continuation of last summer’s “Take Back Title IX” campaign, will visit all 33 counties in New Mexico. According to IWF, the purpose is to “celebrate the policies advanced by the Trump administration to protect women’s sports, women’s spaces, and women’s equal opportunity.”
This year’s tour comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s February executive order that directed federal agencies, attorneys general, and athletic associations to block participation of what the order calls “trans-identifying” athletes in women’s sports. States that fail to comply, including California and Maine, have been threatened with cuts to federal education funding.
For New Mexico, a state that has moved decisively in the opposite direction by expanding transgender rights, the visit feels less like a campaign stop and more like a provocation.
Republican Representative Andrea Reeb, R-Clovis, who introduced a bill earlier this year to ban transgender athletes from competing on teams aligned with their gender identity, will appear at the event. That bill was swiftly tabled by Democratic lawmakers in a party-line vote.
“We’re going to keep bringing it back,” Reeb said, doubling down on her support for the Trump administration’s policy. “This is a biological thing. This isn’t an identification thing.”
Reeb’s bill drew national attention after testimony from IWF ambassador Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, and other conservative voices like ex-coach Kim Russell and former high school athlete Payton McNabb. All three will return to Santa Fe to support the tour’s launch.
But local advocates and experts remain unconvinced that the presence of transgender athletes poses any legitimate threat to women’s sports in the state.
“This bill, and others like it, are solutions in search of a problem,” said Dr. Christopher McGrew, a sports medicine specialist in Albuquerque. “There is no data showing transgender girls are taking over sports in New Mexico or anywhere.”
Opponents of the legislation, including LGBTQ+ advocates and faith leaders, argue the true impact of these policies isn’t about fairness in sports; it’s about fueling fear and discrimination.
“One thing I’ve learned is that transgender girls are girls,” said Rev. Kristin Schultz of All Saints Lutheran Church in Albuquerque. “These bills empower discrimination. They contribute to mental health crises, and they put our kids in danger.”
A 2023 study in Transgender Health confirmed that transgender and nonbinary youth experience suicide attempt rates four times higher than their cisgender peers, but that affirmation and inclusion significantly lower that risk.
New Mexico has made strides to protect its transgender residents, including expanding anti-discrimination laws, outlawing local bans on gender-affirming care, and refusing to cooperate with investigations from states seeking to prosecute families of trans youth.
That’s why, for many, the arrival of this tour is a gut punch, coming just days after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors to stand.
At a time when trans youth are under attack nationally, the message this tour sends is painfully clear: even in safe states, we are not safe from the spread of anti-trans ideology.
While they drive their bus across all 33 counties, many in New Mexico will be organizing their own counter-efforts, to remind transgender youth that they belong, they are valid, and they are not alone.
“This is our home too,” said Rev. Schultz. “And we will fight to keep it safe for everyone.”
