A coalition of 14 trans and nonbinary legislators urged the Biden administration to reconsider a proposed policy change meant to address GOP-led attacks on young transgender athletes.
The Department of Education announced the proposed changes to Title IX, a 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on sex at federally funded schools, last week. If adopted, the new rules would prohibit outright bans on transgender students from participating on school sports teams but would allow schools to bar transgender athletes in limited circumstances. Those carve-outs would allow schools to ban students if participation would impact fairness in competition or if there was an increase in the risk of sports-related injuries.
But the group of lawmakers said rather than ensure equal treatment, the proposal effectively gives schools “a roadmap for how” to bar trans students from sports teams.
“Twenty states have now passed sports bans, often targeting a mere handful of trans athletes in their respective states,” the letter reads. “While we understand the administration may have been attempting to provide legal protections & clarity, in actuality these proposed rule changes will simply provide those who seek to deny us our right a roadmap for how to do so.”
“To put it plainly, there is no such thing as an acceptable ‘compromise’ that limits transgender Americans access to equal rights,” the letter continues.
The group includes Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D), Vermont state Rep. Taylor Small (D) and Montana state Rep. SJ Howell (D).
Republicans nationwide have unleashed a hateful, multi-prong attack against transgender and queer Americans in recent months. State legislatures have barred trans students from sports teams and moved to limit access to medically necessary care to young trans kids. There are currently more than 450 anti-LGBTQ bills before lawmakers, according to the ACLU.
President Joe Biden has pledged to protect LGBTQ Americans but the coalition of legislators said the effort unveiled by the Education Department didn’t reflect full equality for the trans community. The group was firm in its call that trans athletes should be allowed to participate on teams “full stop,” adding the White House should push back on “false narratives around the supposed advantage of trans athletes.”
“We should instead be asking why trans people are so deeply underrepresented in their participation, in their successes and in athletic scholarships,” they wrote. “Revisions should be made in conjunction with a wide array of transgender legislators, lawyers and activists, and the new proposed policy language should begin with the presumption of full inclusion for transgender athletes.”