In Minnesota, transgender student-athletes have a right to play for their gender-identified team. Some politicians want to change that.
In early March, republican lawmakers in Minnesota introduced a bill that would essentially reverse the transgender student-athlete policy that is currently in place.
Under the current policy, transgender athletes who were born male are allowed to participate in and play on female sports teams. Unfortunately, about 20 or so legislators from the House and Senate supported a measure to “roll back” the policy that the Minnesota State High School League previously approved.
The full description of the policy stipulates that student-athletes have the right to play for the team that matches their identified gender. It is set to take affect this fall and would be active in over 500 schools that are members of the league. There is already a state law in place for girls who want to participate in or play on boys’ sports teams.
The policy has been under debate since it was first introduced and approved in December 2014. But supporters say that measure is necessary to protect transgender athletes who feel discriminated against. Those against the measure, including the republican lawmakers who seek to reverse it, claim that female athletes would lose their right to privacy and be put in danger.
The bill set to reverse the current measure, states that gender is “the physical condition of being male or female, which is genetically determined by a person’s chromosomes and is identified at birth by a person’s anatomy.” That’s where the confusion lies. Psychologists have testified that gender isn’t about what’s between your legs. It’s about what’s between your ears.
OutFront Minnesota is an LGBT advocacy group. They released a statement opposing the bill, saying it would “single out trans youth and permanently deny them the ability to take part in their school’s activities, and use the facilities, as the gender they live every day.”
It should be noted that there are thirty-two other states that adhere to the same inclusion policy when it comes to transgender student-athletes. The NCAA also has a policy in place for determining transgender students’ eligibility in sports.
As more and more transgender individuals continue to come out and embrace who they are, transgender rights will continue to be at the forefront of politics and government issues. If the current policy in Minnesota isn’t reversed and the bill to challenge it is justly turned away, it could be an indication that the tide of transgender rights is moving in a positive direction. Even in sports.