Sports world reacts to state’s transgender ban

Alaska’s state Board of Education voted last Thursday to approve a ban on transgender girls from competing on girls’ high school sports teams.

This was considered one of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s policy priorities, though it had been blocked by the Alaska Legislature earlier in the year.

The proposal states that “if a separate high school athletics team is established for female students, participation shall be limited to females who were assigned female at birth.” It was met with fierce pushback from some board members during the final vote.

Once approved by Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor (R), this new proposal would apply to schools and districts that are part of the Alaska School Activities Association (ASAA), which oversees Alaska’s high school sports.

The current ASAA guidelines call for member schools to make their own decision to allow transgender athletes to play on sports teams that are part of their chosen sex. But if a school does determine that a transgender student is eligible to compete, that determination “shall remain in effect for the duration of the student’s high school eligibility.”

The proposal and eventual decision were met with harsh pushback by transgender rights supporters and others.

“The Board has totally disregarded the ways this policy violates the privacy of young Alaskans, and sanctions wholesale discrimination against transgender children,” said Michael Garvey, the advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Alaska.

“Instead of spending our time going through lawsuits surrounding this issue and dedicating funds to those legal battles to further and perpetuate this, I think there are some other things that we can do to actually help women and female athletes and women’s sports that would be a lot more beneficial,” said Felix Myers, a junior in high school and the board’s student representative, who was also the only board member to vote against the policy.

While Alaska Republicans fight hard to push back against transgender people under the guise of “women’s safety,” the state remains one of the most deadly for women to live in. 59% of women in Alaska say they have experienced violence, almost certainly not from transgender people in any discernable amount.

[The Hill, The Messenger]