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Young trans person with flag (L); Philadelphia school bus (R)
The Philadelphia School District has announced that it will continue to allow transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity.
The Philadelphia School District has announced that it will not follow an executive order from Donald Trump, and that it will instead continue to allow transgender athletes to compete on teams that align with their gender identity.
Trump's executive order, the so-called “No Men in Women’s Sports" policy, prohibits transgender Americans from participating in sports if the team or category does not align with their sex at birth. The order threatens to withhold federal funding from schools that do not comply.
Philadelphia School District officials said in a statement Tuesday via The Philadelphia Inquirer that that their schools “strive to ensure safety, equity and justice for all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression so that they can imagine and realize any future they desire."
“The district will continue to align its practices to support its LGBTQ+ students in accordance with Board Policy 252 for transgender and gender non-conforming students,” officials said.
Philadelphia’s Policy 252 forbids the forced outing of LGBTQ+ students to their guardians, and also states that “transgender and gender nonconforming students shall be permitted to participate in physical education classes and intramural sports in a manner consistent with their gender identity. Participation in competitive athletic activities and contact sports will be resolved on a case-by-case basis.”
The district's decision aligns with the medical consensus on trans participation in sports. A comprehensive review of several studies of trans athletes competing under their gender identity found that, post transition, trans people are "more similar to their gender identity." It noted that cisgender athletes also show great variations in ability.
The district's decision comes in the wake of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Board of Directors voting to revise its policies to comply with Trump's order. The PIAA policy previously stated that “where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the Principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by PIAA.” The new policy replaces gender and with sex while also changing principal to school.
The district has a budget of $4.5 billion, according the the Inquirer, only $619.3 million of which comes from federal funds. However, federal grants are responsible for funding important programs such as special-education and early childhood services.
Several New Hampshire trans student athletes and their families, who have already filed lawsuit against the state’s anti-trans sports law, recently filed a motion asking the court to amend the suit to include a challenge to Trump’s executive orders – the trans sports ban as well as one declaring there are only two sexes, in spite of the scientific and medical consensus that sex is a spectrum.
