Tag: transgender athletes

Mississippi Gov. Signs Bill Prohibiting Boys in Girls’ Sports: Girls Deserve a ‘Level Playing Field’

Michael Foust – March 11, 2021

Mississippi’s governor signed a bill into law on Thursday prohibiting biological males from competing in girls’ or women’s sports, making the state the first in 2021 to act on the issue.

More than 20 states are considering similar bills, which supporters say are needed in light of a push on the national and state levels to allow transgender girls and women to compete alongside biological females in sports.

Two high school athletes in Connecticut who are biologically male but who identify as female won a total of 15 state track championships. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has taken initial steps in requiring schools to allow transgender athletes to compete according to their gender identity.

The Mississippi bill passed in the state House 81-28 with bipartisan support, although a 34-9 vote in the Senate fell along partisan lines.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, a Republican, signed the bill into law Thursday. Supporters call it the “Mississippi Fairness Act.”

“Athletic teams or sports designated for ‘females,’ ‘women’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the text of the bill says.

The new law, which takes effect July 1, also allows athletes to file suit if their school violates the law.

“This important piece of legislation will ensure that young girls in Mississippi have a fair, level playing field in public school sports,” Reeves said during a signing ceremony.

https://www.christianheadlines.com

U.S. Justice Department Argues Transgender Athletes Should Not Be Treated as Girls

PAT EATON-ROBB – March 25, 2020

(HARTFORD, Conn.) — The U.S. Justice Department is getting involved in a federal civil rights lawsuit that seeks to block transgender athletes in Connecticut from competing as girls in interscholastic sports.

Attorney General William Barr signed what is known as a statement of interest Tuesday, arguing against the policy of the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference, the board that oversees the state’s high school athletic competitions.

The conference allows athletes to compete as the gender with which they identify, arguing it is following a state law that requires high school students be treated according to their gender identity. It also argues the policy is in accordance with Title IX, the federal law that allows girls equal educational opportunities, including in athletics.

The Justice Department, in its filing, disagrees.

“Under CIAC’s interpretation of Title IX, however, schools may not account for the real physiological differences between men and women. Instead, schools must have certain biological males — namely, those who publicly identify as female — compete against biological females,” Barr and the other department officials write. “In so doing, CIAC deprives those women of the single-sex athletic competitions that are one of the marquee accomplishments of Title IX.”

The lawsuit was filed in February by runners Selina Soule, a senior at Glastonbury High School; Chelsea Mitchell, a senior at Canton High School; and Alanna Smith, a sophomore at Danbury High School, against the conference and several local boards of education.

They argue they have been deprived of wins, state titles and athletic opportunities by being forced to compete against transgender athletes.

https://time.com