JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi Republican Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Thursday to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams.
Mississippi is the first state this year to enact such a ban, after a federal court blocked an Idaho law last year. Mississippi’s Senate Bill 2536 is set to become law July 1, although a legal challenge is possible.
More than 20 states are proposing restrictions on athletics or gender-confirming health care for transgender minors this year. Conservative lawmakers are responding to an executive order by Democratic President Joe Biden that bans discrimination based on gender identity in school sports & elsewhere. Biden signed it Jan. 20, the day he took office.
Alphonso David, president of the LGBTQ civil rights organization Human Rights Campaign, said that the Mississippi law could lead to more bullying of transgender people.
“This law is a solution in search of a problem & legislators in Mississippi have not provided any examples of Mississippi transgender athletes gaming the system for a competitive advantage because none exist,” David said.
Reeves has 3 daughters who play sports & he said March 4 on Twitter that Mississippi’s bill would “protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities.”
Chase Strangio, a transgender-rights attorney with the national ACLU, said the bill “is very vague & seemingly unenforceable.”
Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Christiana Holcomb praised the law. Alliance is defending the Idaho law & representing 3 cisgender girls in a Connecticut lawsuit that seeks to prevent transgender athletes from competing in girls sports.
“When we ignore science & biological reality, female athletes lose medals, podium spots, public recognition & opportunities to compete,” Holcomb said.
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