Anti Trans Bills 5/3/21
Last week, the governors of North Dakota and Kansas vetoed legislation that would have forbidden transgender females from participating on girls’ athletic teams. This week, two governors signed similar legislation, and a third said he would sign it. Them reports that Alabama became the fourth state to enact such legislation this year, when Governor Kay Ivey signed her state’s version of the bill into law. The law was passed despite the fact that the state athletic association says that no transgender female has participated in school sports in Alabama. This law goes an extra step, forbidding a school from allowing a “biological female” from participating on a boys’ team if the school has a girls’ team in that sport, as well as saying a school “may never allow a biological male to participate on a female team.” Thanks to Alyssa Washington for a link to this story.
Later in the week, West Virginia governor Jim Justice signed a bill forbidding transgender athletes from participating on girls’ sports teams. This came in spite of the fact that neither the governor nor the legislators who voted for the bill could name an instance of a transgender athlete in their state. Governor Justice said that the bill was “not a priority” to him, according to Politico, but he signed it anyway.
In Florida, the bill about transgender athletes first seemed to pass the Senate, then was declared dead when it was pointed out that it would allow require genital examinations to settle disputes, and now, it has passed as the legislature was ending its session, when the bill was attached to other education legislation. Governor Ron DeSantis said that he will sign the legislation, despite the controversy over the language about genital examinations. The Tampa Bay Times has this story.
The transgender athlete law which Idaho passed last year will come up for a hearing in federal court this week, according to The Idaho State Journal.
Them has an article by Dr. Morissa Landinsky, a pediatrician who is afraid she will lose her license if Alabama passes its law prohibiting the medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors.
The Tennessee legislature has passed a new bathroom bill. This bill would require businesses or government facilities to post a notice if transgender people are allowed to use a restroom which can be occupied by more than one person at a time. The legislation now heads to Governor Bill Lee. WKMS has the AP’s story.
Although five states have added bans on transgender athletes in girls sports, and Arkansas added a ban on medical treatment of gender dysphoria in minors, none of these states has been punished yet, according to the Associated Press.
