Iowa bans transgender girls from participating in women’s sports in schools and colleges

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Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a bill Thursday that would ban transgender girls from participating in girls’ and teenage athletics and high school girls’ athletics. AP.

Law: The bill requires students who participate in interschool sports sponsored or sanctioned by an accredited non-public school or public school district to play only with others of the gender listed on their birth certificate.

  • It also has provisions that allow for civil suits to support the intent of the law. The project applies to sports from primary school grades to public universities and colleges.
  • Lobbyists for school boards, administrators and teachers said the bill puts them in the untenable position of having to choose whether to follow new state or federal law, which bans gender discrimination in schools and sports activities.

what are they saying? Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law during a ceremony on Capitol Hill, just a day after lawmakers were sent to her office, calling the signing a victory for women’s sports. The Associated Press reported that the proposal passed the House and Senate only with Republican support.

  • “No amount of talent, training, or effort can match the natural physical advantages that men have over women. It’s just a fact of human biology,” Reynolds said. “Forcing women to compete against men is the opposite of totalitarianism and totally unfair.”
  • Ainsley Erzen, a senior at Carlisle High School who set the state record for the 800m and was present during committees supporting the bill, noted that “Iowa girls today and all generations to come will be able to chase the things they love best.” of their abilities,” he defended the athlete. “Whether it is about chasing titles, records, scholarships or earning a starting point in a team. No girl will be sidelined in her sport.”
  • When a reporter asked Reynolds for an example of a girl who was outdone by a transgender athlete, the governor did not mention a specific case, but said restrictions are necessary.

And now? Republican leaders made the bill effective immediately, so any transgender student who plays sports may be asked to stop. It was not clear how many students he would affect.

  • It’s unclear how the schools are expected to enforce the law, said Des Moines Public Schools spokesperson and district lobbyist Phil Roeder. Roeder opposed the bill because he believed the legislation discriminated against transgender girls and women, and the county is concerned that it conflicts with federal anti-discrimination laws.
  • He reiterated that “our school district welcomes and supports LGBTQ students and provides them with the opportunities they deserve.”
  • Mark Stringer, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Iowa, a civil rights advocacy organization, denounced the law, saying it “violates the civil rights of transgender girls and women” in Iowa. “Today, Iowa has ingested unfounded myths about transgender girls and women participating in sports, myths fueled by ignorance and fear,” Stringer said.

panorama: Iowa will join 10 other Republican-led states with such laws. Some have faced legal challenges for allegedly violating constitutional rights and federal anti-discrimination laws.

  • Other states with similar laws include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and Texas, all of which passed last year. The implementation of the 2020 Idaho law was suspended after a federal judge ruled that it would likely be ruled unconstitutional.
  • Last July, a West Virginia judge issued an order allowing an 11-year-old transgender girl to participate in the girls’ cross-country race, saying a state law passed last year would have violated her constitutional rights as well as a federal law guaranteeing equality. Treatment of men and women in educational and sports programs.

With information from: AP.

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