Push to exclude trans students from sports in some states after Biden’s pro-LGBT orders
Lawmakers across the United States are pushing to exclude some transgender students from sports after President Joe Biden signed pro-LGBT orders.
Proposals that call for athletes to compete based on their biological sex have been introduced or considered in at least 17 states this year, according to the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights Campaign. Some of the bills would specifically ban students assigned male at birth from playing on girl’s sports teams.
“Single-sex athletics is rooted in the reality of biological differences between the sexes and is rooted in objective biological fact and fairness,” one bill in New Hampshire states.
But LGBT advocates have fired back, arguing against the “discriminatory” proposals.
“There is a coordinated attack on trans kids being waged in state legislatures across the country right now — and one of the most common bills that we’re tracking targets trans athletes,” the Human Rights Campaign said on its website. “Every kid deserves to play sports consistent with their gender identity.”
Juniper Eastwood, a transgender woman and former college athlete, said a proposal introduced in Montana “would make it impossible for other young Montanans like me to participate in sports as who they are,” the Associated Press reported in January.
Similar bills were drafted in Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, according to advocacy groups.
In some of the states, the youth sports proposals were introduced after Biden took office on Jan. 20.
On his first day in the role, he signed an order backing a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The president in the order said “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room or school sport.”
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves was among those criticizing Biden’s move.
“I am so disappointed over President Biden’s actions to force young girls ... to compete with biological males for access to athletics,” Reeves said in a Facebook post. “I just don’t understand why politicians are pushing children into transgenderism in the first place.”
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, was asked Tuesday about transgender and cisgender girls playing sports together in high school and beyond.
“I would just say that the President’s belief is that trans rights are human rights, and that’s why he signed that executive order,” Psaki said. “And in terms of the determinations by universities and colleges, I’d certainly defer to them.”
This story was originally published February 10, 2021 at 3:30 PM.
