Even in Massachusetts, one of the most liberal states in the nation, transgender student-athletes are coming under attack.
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The state’s House of Representatives passed a spending bill Wednesday with an amendment that would require student-athletes in public schools to play on the team designated for their sex assigned at birth, not their gender identity, The Boston Globe reports. Any team that lets a trans athlete play would forfeit all games in which that athlete participated.
But the House also adopted an amendment that would require the state to analyze the policy’s impact and issue a report. Legislators would then have to pass another bill to put the policy into effect.
State Rep. John Gaskey, a Republican, submitted the anti-trans amendment, while Democratic Rep. Ken Gordon submitted the one requiring the study. The House approved both on a voice vote, so how each lawmaker voted was not recorded. There were only about 50 representatives present out of 160, State House News Service reports. The chamber later adopted the full spending bill, which allocates $1.3 billion for education and transportation.
This comes at a time when not only conservative states but the federal government are attacking trans people’s participation in sports and even their very existence. Donald Trump has signed an executive order threatening to withdraw federal funds from any state or school that lets trans women compete in women’s sports. His administration already has begun investigating the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for allowing trans athletes to participate under their gender identity. Trump has also been in a public feud with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, whose state has sued the administration over the withholding of funds because of its trans-inclusive policy.
Gordon said requiring the study would help legislators “better understand these issues,” the Globe reports. “The topic of the amendment is complex, involving issues of federal and state law,” he said on House floor. “It is a matter of concern to residents of the commonwealth who have expressed concern from both sides of the issue, and the matter deserves a public hearing.”
Gaskey argued that Democrats are seeking “a way to bury this and make sure that nobody ever gets this on the record.”
“We already know how this is going to affect people,” he said, according to the Globe. “We already know how many students are going to be affected: Every student is going to be affected,” he said. “Every student athlete will play on the team that they were born to play on. ... That’s what this amendment is for. We don’t need a study. The polls support this. The federal government supports this. It’s time that we recognize science.”
Actually, scientists have found that trans women and girls don’t necessarily have an advantage over their nontrans peers, and there are many factors besides gender that affect athletic performance.
Gordon’s amendment is likely to keep Gaskey’s amendment from becoming law, and any anti-trans policy will probably encounter much opposition in Massachusetts. Both the state House and Senate have Democratic supermajorities, and Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat, is a lesbian who has made LGBTQ+ rights, including trans rights, a priority for her administration.
Still, Gaskey’s move is cause for concern, activists said. “Right now the trans community is under attack from the federal government and the executive branch,” Tanya Neslusan, executive director of MassEquality, told the Globe. “The last thing our community needs is for legislators in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts making transgender kids a target. I am extremely dismayed that they are treating this issue as if it’s even a credible thing to say or to even look into.”
“We are not in a time where it’s alarmist to say people need to get involved and know what is going on at the local and state level,” added Joshua Croke, president of LGTBQ+ group Love Your Labels. “The attacks on trans students over sports is a tactic that is continuing to be used to distract from the other work that is being done to create less safety in our communities. Trans folks are being acutely impacted.”
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