Some States Working to Restrict Transgender Women in Sports
Source: Sports Illustrated
By Kylie Rau
March 17, 2021
Mississippi has joined Idaho in banning transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports after Gov. Tate Reeves of Mississippi signed a bill on Mar. 11.
“I never imagined dealing with this, but POTUS left us no choice. One of his first acts was to sign an EO encouraging transgenderism in children. So today, I proudly signed the Mississippi Fairness Act to ensure young girls are not forced to compete against biological males,” Governor Reeves wrote on Twitter.
Idaho made this move last year and it has been taken into consideration by lawmakers in almost two dozen other states around the country.
Source: AP News
The bill, that is scheduled to take effect on July 1, requires public schools and universities to enforce athletes competing with their sex assigned at birth, instead of their gender identity.
The NCAA has been working to monitor such legislation as this bill, and has made strides to support all athletes. In 2016, the organization moved championships away from North Carolina after the state was considering signing a bill that would prevent transgender people from using the restroom that matched their gender identity.
Source: NPR
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has also been working to ban transgender girls from participating in middle and high school sports teams. In February, Lee told reporters, “It will ruin the opportunity for girls to earn scholarships. It will put a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there in some time. I think it’s bad for women and for women’s sports.”
Tennessee legislators have been working on a proposal requiring athletes to prove that their sex matches their “original” birth certificate in order for them to be able to participate in public school sports.