EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:
As children and teenagers head back to K-12 classrooms across the U.S. this months, about half of U.S. states are expecting their schools to enforce laws aimed at keeping transgender girls off of girl’s sports teams.
With Republicans in statehouses across the U.S. pushing to roll back transgender rights, such laws are often followed or approved in tandem with other measures, such as bans on gender-affirming care for transgender youth.
Supporters of such laws argue that they’re protecting fair competition and scholarship opportunities for girls who are not transgender. However, the number of transgender athletes is small, and in some states, the associations that govern high school sports can’t give any examples.
In lawsuits and interviews, transgender youth and parents argue that being part of a team teaches valuable lessons, such as teamwork and good time management. They also say that being able to play with the team associated with a child’s gender identity is an important part of affirming that identity and living as authentically as possible.
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READ AP’s STORY
More states expect schools to keep trans girls off girls teams as K-12 classes resume
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FIND YOUR STATE: AT LEAST 22 HAVE ENACTED SUCH LAWS
— One key piece of information is the scope of your state’s law, which grades are covered, whether the law applies beyond contests between schools to less formal intramural contests within a single school, and whether it restricts the participation of transgender boys as well. You’ll want to find the final version passed by lawmakers, often described as the “enrolled” version. You can find the text of your state’s measures, along with sponsors and roll calls that tell you how your local lawmakers voted at your state government’s free bill-tracking site, with a list of them here. Some sites require you to register (for free) to gain access.
Here are the relevant measures in each state:
Alabama, 2021 HB 391.
Arizona, 2022 SB 1165.
Arkansas, 2021 SB 354.
Florida, 2021 SB 1028.
Georgia, 2022 HB 1084, Georgia High School Association bylaw 1.47.
Idaho, 2020 HB 500.
Indiana, 2022 House Enrolled Act No. 1041.
Iowa, 2022 House File 2416.
Kansas, 2023 HB 2238.
Kentucky, 2022 SB 83.
Louisiana, 2022 SB 44.
Mississippi, 2021 SB 2536.
Missouri, 2023 SB 39.
Montana, 2021 HB 112.
North Carolina, 2023 HB 574.
North Dakota, 2023 HB 1249.
Ohio, 2023 Sub. HB 68.
Oklahoma, 2022 Regular Session SB 2.
South Carolina, 2022 H 4608.
South Dakota, 2022 SB 46.
Tennessee, 2021 SB 228.
Texas, 2021 Third Special Session HB 25.
Utah, 2022 HB 11.
West Virginia, 2021 HB 3293.
Wyoming, 2023 Senate File 0133.
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PUBLISHABLE CONTEXT
At least 22 states have enacted such laws, including Texas and Florida. North Carolina could follow later this month and Ohio, later this fall. The association overseeing high school sports in Georgia enacted a ban last year after a state law suggested it.
The laws are part of a larger wave of measures rolling back transgender rights emerging from Republican-controlled Statehouses across the U.S., starting with Idaho’s first-in-the-nation statute in 2020.
Most of the laws apply starting in kindergarten, and most apply to intramural contests among students at a single school as well as school-versus-school contests. Some of the laws restrict the participation of transgender boys as well.
Most of the laws say that other students and their parents can sue a school if it allows a transgender girl to play on a girls team, and Tennessee mandates a cut in a school’s state funding.
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ADDITIONAL CONTEXT AND TIPS FOR FINDING SOURCES
— Lawsuits have been filed against laws on transgender athletes in multiple states, including Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Tennessee, Utah and West Virginia. Court filings include statements from the athletes, parents and doctors that either side wants to present as expert witnesses.
— States generally have associations that govern high school, junior high and middle school activities, though their policies vary on whether they track the number of transgender athletes. You should contact your state’s association about what its policy was before your state’s law took effect and what its policies are now. Here is a list.
— Interview people who are transgender, intersex and non-binary about their views on such legislation. LGBTQ+ rights groups like PFLAG have local chapters that can help you get in contact with transgender, intersex or non-binary people, as can local or regional gay-straight or queer-straight alliances, with a list here.
— Because of their relatively small numbers, it can be difficult to find transgender athletes to interview, particularly young athletes. The same LGBTQ+ rights groups can help, and there might be private sports clubs that have transgender athletes, though they aren’t covered by the state laws unless a school sponsors them.
— Interview local legislators about their reasons for supporting or opposing your state’s laws and whether they know directly of any instances in which transgender athletes have competed.
— School principals often deal directly with transgender students and their parents and work out plans designed to keep them safe throughout the year, so they also can be good people to interview, along with coaches and athletes generally. In addition, you should check with your local school board or superintendent to see whether parents or others have raised the issue of transgender students’ participation in sports at meetings. You should find out how your schools handle physical education classes and whether they run intramural leagues.
— Your local health systems also might have doctors or other medical personnel who have expertise in issues involving gender or providing gender-affirming care for children and teenagers.
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CONSIDER THESE QUESTIONS:
— How have your local schools responded to the desire of transgender students to play on sports teams associated with their gender identities? Has the issue ever come up? In what context?
— How were questions about a student’s eligibility to play on a girls or boys team settled before your state’s law took effect, and how will they be settled afterward? Have their been such disputes in the past, and have they involved transgender students, cisgendered students or both?
— If your state’s law also covers intramural contests, how are those contests organized by schools? For example, do students form teams themselves, based on friendships, or is the organization of teams more formal?
— What is the normal practice in your local schools for physical education classes? If students are separated by gender, when does that separation begin? In many places, elementary school classes are coed.
— There are sports leagues and clubs that operate outside the K-12 school system, including those run by private organizations and cities and counties. What have their policies been? Have they ever had disputes over athlete eligibility, and how did they arise and turn out? Is the state law putting pressure on them to change their practices?
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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.
