Mississippi Bans Young Transgender Athletes From Competing On Female Sports Teams

The state of Mississippi has voted to ban transgender athletes from competing on female sports teams in schools and universities.

The vote took place on Thursday, February 11, and won by 36 votes to nine, leading to the Senate passing the bill. Five people chose not to take part in the vote, while four voted ‘present’, meaning they were not voting for or against the new legislation.

There was reportedly ‘little discussion’ before the vote took place in the Republican-led state.

The bill’s sponsor, Republican Sen. Angela Hill of Picayune, said as per AP News, ‘I’ve had numerous coaches across the state call me and believe that they feel there’s a need for a policy in Mississippi because they are beginning to have some concerns of having to deal with this.’

According to the news outlet, no one asked if any transgender athletes were currently competing in Mississippi, and Hill did not volunteer such information.

Following the vote, the legislation will now go to the Republican-controlled House for more work in coming weeks.

Since Joe Biden became president, he has signed an executive order that allows federal agencies to assume that laws forbidding discrimination also apply to sexual orientation and gender identity, just like it does for race, religion, sex and national origin. He also signed another order allowing transgender people to serve in the military.

In the wake of these news orders, Mississippi Republican Governor Tate Reeves tweeted, ‘I am so disappointed over President Biden’s actions to force young girls like them to compete with biological males for access to athletics. It will limit opportunity for so many competitors like my daughters. It is bad policy and it is wrong for America.’

He continued:

I don’t understand why politicians are pushing children into transgenderism in the first place. I certainly don’t understand why the President chose to make it a priority. And my heart breaks for the young women across America who will lose in this radical social experiment.

However, Rob Hill, Human Rights Campaign Mississippi’s state director, disputed this and said that ‘transitioning for the sake of competitive advantage is simply unrealistic’.

As per CNN, Hill said of Mississippi’s vote, ‘All this bill does is put transgender youth at risk of bullying, exclusion, and increased danger while discrimination and violence against transgender people is at a record high in this country.’

‘If legislators would simply listen to medical experts and transgender athletes, they might know that transitioning for the sake of a competitive advantage is simply unrealistic. So is the idea that transgender athletes even gain a supposed advantage in the first place,’ he added.

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence contact Mindline Trans+ on 0300 330 5468. The line is open 8pm–midnight Mondays and Fridays and is run by trans volunteers.