Texas House Votes to Ban Transgender Athletes from Female Sports
Students participating in schools sports will be restricted to biological gender
© press
Lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives have voted to ban transgender athletes from competing in female school sports events.
The bill restricts students to participate in school sports based on their biological sex only.
It also bars transgender students from choosing their own categories for competition based on their "gender identity."
Three similar bills had already failed to pass before Thursday’s successful vote in the state’s lower chamber.
Nevertheless, the legislation is now heading to the desk of Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott.
The bill will likely be signed by Gov. Abbott, according to Reuters.
© press
Once enacted, Texas will join seven other states that have put restrictions on transgender students, accordng to Breitbart.
The bills relegate trans students to sports corresponding to their birth gender, not the gender they had self-assigned.
The latest version of the bill approved by the House will be sent back to the State Senate for procedural approval.
From there, it is expected to go right to the governor’s desk.
Texas is poised to join Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, and West Virginia in barring transgender students from participating in sports outside their birth gender.
Another measure has also been enacted in South Dakota. Gov. Kristi Noem signed an executive order barring transgender “girls” from participating with natural-born girls in the state’s schools.
The measure, though, faces several lawsuits filed by activists who oppose Noem’s action.
Idaho had attempted to pass such a restriction, but a federal judge blocked the law last year.
© press
Activists are launching lawsuits in each of the states to force federal rules to cancel state laws containing such restrictions.
It is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court will eventually have to weigh in to impose a uniform resolution.
A recent lawsuit in Connecticut that aimed to protect female athletes was dismissed when a judge ruled that a case against the state was moot because the boys claiming to be transgender girls have graduated and are no longer students in state schools.
