Sweeping Transgender Sports Ban Fails

The U.S. Senate has voted not to consider a sweeping national ban on transgender youth participation in sports. Despite the current administration’s relentless targeting of transgender people & an anti-equality majority in the Senate lawmakers refused to move the bill forward. The Senate’s rejection of this anti-LGBTQ attack sends a clear message that attempts to legislate away freedoms for LGBTQ people & their families will be met with resistance. Kelley Robinson Human Rights Campaign President stated, “Every child should have the opportunity to experience the simple joys of being young & making memories with their friends but bills like these send the message that transgender kids don't deserve the same opportunities to thrive as their peers simply because of who they are & they are impossible to enforce without putting all kids at risk of invasive questions or physical examinations just because someone doesn’t look or dress like everyone else. We should want all of our kids to have the chance to be on a team, problem solve with others, learn valuable skills & find places to belong. Thank you to the leaders who stood up today, pushed back against those playing politics with young people’s lives & declared that ours should be a nation where every child feels valued.” NCAA President Charlie Baker shared that there are fewer than 10 trans athletes currently participating in college sports. Also discriminatory bans like these come over the objections of advocates for women’s sports like Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, Dawn Staley, the Women’s Sports Foundation & the National Women’s Law Center.