Missouri bill allows school district elections to ban transgender kids from sports
The Missouri House on Wednesday, April 13, advanced a bill that would allow voters to decide whether their school districts can ban transgender girls from participating in K-12 girls’ athletics.
It was tacked on to a broad piece of legislation that would change how Missouri runs its elections. Tucked in the 51-page bill are plans to audit the state’s list of registered voters.
The amendment is another attempt by Republican legislators to bar transgender women from competing in women’s sports as the legislative session enters its final month. It needs to go before the House one more time before it heads to the Senate. Another proposal in the Senate, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” would prohibit anyone assigned male at birth from participating in girls or women’s sports.
Under the language in the amendment, successfully added by Rocheport Republican Chuck Basye, public school districts would be allowed to hold elections where voters could ban transgender girls from school-sponsored girls’ sports. It also calls on the Joint Committee on Education to study “the impact” of the ban in 2023.
Supporters said it would protect girls sports teams from competing with transgender girls, who they said have a biological advantage in athletics.
“This isn’t about hate. This is about fairness,” Bayse said. “It is proven that males are biologically superior to females.”
House Democrats decried the amendment and said it places transgender children at risk of self-harm and would lead to bullying and increased discrimination. It’s an attempt to use transgender kids to promote conservative rhetoric during an election season, they said.
“This is the only issue that I take personally...” said Ian Mackey, a St. Louis Democrat who identifies as gay. “This is it. I’ve made it clear that we can agree to disagree and still love each other and still move forward. Unless…the root of our disagreement is in my right to exist. And that’s what you’re doing with this legislation. We can’t move past that. We cannot agree to disagree on that.”
Opponents pointed to the fact that Missouri K-12 public schools have largely not had issues with transgender children playing on youth sports teams.
The Missouri State High School Activities Association prohibits transgender girls from participating in girls sports unless they’re undergoing hormone therapy, the Associated Press reported.
Similar legislation has been proposed in several states, including Indiana, Kentucky and Wyoming. The Kansas Senate sent a ban on transgender athletes to Gov. Laura Kelly’s desk last month.
Texas and Florida have introduced bills that go further than banning transgender athletes from sports. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered state child welfare officials to launch child abuse investigations of parents whose transgender children are receiving gender-affirming medical care. Florida lawmakers passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that prohibits education on gender identity and sexual orientation in the state’s primary schools.
Last month, Avery Jackson, a 14-year-old from Kansas City, told the Missouri Senate Education Committee that transgender kids like her should be able to play sports without the issue becoming politicized
“These are all kids and they’re playing for fun,” Jackson said. “I don’t understand why this has to be something bigger than that. They’re just kids trying to have fun.”
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 4:32 PM.
