Kentucky lawmakers approve transgender sports ban
metroweekly.comCourier-Journal. The Kentucky High School Athletic Association already requires high school athletes to undergo gender confirmation surgery if they wish to compete on sports teams that don’t match their assigned sex at birth.
Chris Hartman, the executive director of the Fairness Campaign in Kentucky, said that requirement would make most, if not all, transgender youth under the age of 18, ineligible to compete, as gender confirmation surgeries are rarely performed on minors, and only then after extensive therapy.The NCAA, the governing body in collegiate athletics, recently adopted new guidelines regarding transgender athletes’ eligibility.
Under that policy, each individual sport’s governing body will determine eligibility criteria for competing. Additionally, transgender student-athletes will need to document sport-specific testosterone levels (as determined by each individual governing body) four weeks before the start of their competitive season, and provide subsequent documentation six months afterward.
The policy is expected to be fully implemented by the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.Opponents of the bill have argued that it violates Title IX’s prohibitions on sex-based discrimination and transgender students’ right to equal protection under the law.
