Trans Athlete Ban Expected to be Fast-Tracked Tomorrow

House Republicans Skyler Wheeler (Orange City) and Henry Stone (Forest City) introduced a bill Wednesday that would bar transgender girls from playing school sports.

The bill is expected by several lobbyists to be fast-tracked, which means it will be debated in an education subcommittee at 7:30 a.m. Thursday (Feb. 10) morning and then immediately be considered by the full education committee afterward. Meetings can be found here. The subcommittee should be streamed here.

House File 2309 requires that sports be explicitly segregated by a child’s sex assigned at birth, or must be fully coeducational or mixed. It also explicitly says, “only female students, based on their sex, in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls.”

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It defines “sex” as a person’s biological sex, found on the child’s birth certificate.

Trans girls are girls who were assigned male at birth, but identify as female. An important part of their development is being treated as the gender they identify with—that can include clothing, a different name, different pronouns, and generally being treated like a girl.

Trans boys are not called out in the legislation.

The bill also provides that “a student who suffers direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation of the bill’s requirements” has cause for damages from the school, district, or athletic organization. It also has protections for people who may face repercussions from the school for reporting a violation.

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It explicitly states schools and administrators that enforce this discrimination have legal protections if there’s a lawsuit or complaint filed, and the state will shoulder the expense of legal defense.

Trans students have been affected by laws like this across the country despite no conclusive evidence of an advantage when it comes to sports.

Nikoel Hytrek
2/09/22

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