Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
A group of state lawmakers filed a bill that bars transgender women and girls in Wyoming from participating in high school and collegiate sports that match their gender identity. The Senate voted 25-4-1 to introduce the bill and it was referred to the Education Committee on Feb. 18.
The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” or Senate File 51, is sponsored by Senator Wendy Schuler, R-Evanston, and six other lawmakers.
In addition to implementing a ban, the measure seeks to protect students who may experience retaliation for reporting fellow students for not abiding by the prohibition. The bill would also open the door to legal action on behalf of the students who are “deprived of an athletic opportunity” due to a violation of the ban.
Wyoming isn’t the first state to put a ban like this into place. As of late 2021, 10 states – Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and West Virginia have passed some version of a law or ban to limit transgender students from participating in school sports.
Schuler argues that allowing transgender athletes on girls’ and women’s teams would detract from progress women have made since Title IX: federal legislation wildly credited with opening up sports to female athletes.
I have several issues with this bill and what it seems to represent.
Transgender girls and women are girls and women, despite their biological sex. By saying transgender women cannot compete in women’s sports because it’s a violation of Title IX, just goes to prove that the lawmakers don’t see transgender women as women.
Schuler told the Casper Star-Tribune, “We didn’t get the same opportunity that men did. Title IX being enacted provided us the full experience of competition.”
Cisgender people, or people who identify with the sex they were born at birth, are given much more opportunities than transgender people are given. In this case, we’re talking about sports. These transgender women only want to be a part of a sport. But, with this bill, they are eliminating that possibility.
I’m aware of why people are worried about transgender girls playing female sports. They worry about unfair advantages that being assigned male at birth can give you in a sport. Well, how is that any different than girls who are born naturally more athletic and better at sports than others?
Another worry is that cisgender males will claim to be transgender women just so they can play on the girls teams. However, I feel as though nobody in their right mind is going to fake being transgender. Nobody wants the taunting or the other experiences that come with being transgender.
Transgender girls just want the same opportunities that other girls get when it comes to sports. They mean no harm by wanting to play the same sports their female classmates do.
When transgender people are accepted for who they are, we see them bloom. Their grades go up and their smiles brighten. When we support them, they thrive. When we attempt to pass laws to hurt them and invalidate their experiences, we’re hurting vulnerable people.
Stay kind.