Latest Texas Ban on Transgender Athletes
Texas reverses the constitution with new bills banning abortions, restricting voting, and dismissing permits to carry a weapon. The latest bill bans transgender athletes from playing on teams with their affiliated gender identities.
On October 25, Governor Greg Abbott joined most Republican-controlled states by signing a law banning transgender girls from playing female sports at public schools. The bill claims to protect fairness in school sports and protect the girls. Representative Valoree Swanson comments, “We need a statewide level playing field. It’s very important that we, who got elected to be here, protect our girls.”
The bill is to planned to take effect on January 18, 2022, at elementary schools and universities. Before the new ban, student-athletes could request a court order to change their gender markers on their birth certificates to participate in teams with their gender identities. However, now that is not an option.
Democrats questioned the measure’s necessity, noting that lawmakers had found no cases of a transgender student taking a competitive spot from another student.
— ‘Boo-No’ Navarro 🎃👻🍬 (@Bruno_J_Navarro) October 18, 2021
They called the bill an attack on transgender children and an invitation for bullying. https://t.co/CO99hrLQQp
The LGBTQ advocacy group, Equality Texas, released a statement saying, if Texans “want to protect children, the goal shouldn’t be to prevent trans kids from participating in sports, but to give all kids the freedom to make friends and play without fearing the kind of discrimination many older trans people face on a daily basis.”
Kate Oakley, state legislative director and senior counsel for the Human Rights Campaign, argues Governor Abbott’s efforts backed by the goal to advance to a higher position. Oakley adds, “They’ve got a failed electrical grid and a Covid crisis, but they’re gerrymandering and attacking trans kids and reproductive rights.”
A Dallas mom, Rachel Gonzales, and her transgender daughter, Libby, spoke against the ban before the House. The 11 year-old-daughter voiced, “It’s always the same argument, and it’s always discrimination. If you don’t want to understand us, at least don’t keep our families, teachers, and couches from supporting us.” Unfortunately, that day only took a turn for the worse as the crowd outside the Capitol jeered at Gonzales and Libby for taking their stand. Gonzales was called a child abuser and sought safety in Representative Jasmine Crockett’s office with her daughter.
More critics have argued against the ban calling Texas out for not having evidence of transgender athletes creating an unfair playing field on teams. Many are urging against the ban; however, there are no updates from the Supreme Court blocking the law.
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