JUST IN: Texas Gov. Abbott signs into law a bill banning transgender athletes from playing on public school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
LGBTQ rights supporters gather at the Texas State Capitol to protest state Republican-led efforts to pass legislation that would restrict the participation of transgender student athletes on the first day of the 87th Legislature's third special session, in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, 2021.Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill Monday banning transgender athletes from playing on public school sports teams that align with their gender identity.
Abbott did not immediately comment on the ban, but a lead sponsor in the Texas House of Representatives has said it is “all about girls and protecting them” in the state’s University Interscholastic League. "We need a statewide level playing field," Rep. Valoree Swanson said on the House floor earlier this month. “It’s very important that we, who got elected to be here, protect our girls.”
Although student athletes had been required to play on teams that aligned with the gender listed on their birth certificates, they could obtain a court order allowing them to change that gender marker and compete in interscholastic athletics.Critics of the legislation have called it discriminatory and said its supporters haven’t been able to provide examples of transgender athletes competing unfairly in women’s sports.
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