Trans, nonbinary state lawmakers express concern over proposed Title IX changes
Fourteen transgender and nonbinary state lawmakers in a letter to President Joe Biden expressed their concern over his administration’s proposed Title IX changes amid rampant anti-trans legislation sweeping the country.
The worry comes from recent attacks on trans athletes in a number of states where state governments are looking to ban them from playing on teams that correspond to their gender identity. “Each of us has seen in our own legislatures an extreme uptick in attempts to legalize hatred, exclusion and discrimination,” the letter reads. “While we understand the administration may have been attempting to provide legal protections and clarity, in actuality these proposed rule changes will simply provide those who seek to deny us our rights a roadmap for how to do so.” The proposed policy could, if left unchanged, compromise the opportunity for trans athletes to proactively participate in their school’s sport divisions.
Moreover, schools could legally limit their participation “in some instances, particularly in competitive high school and college athletic environments,” for purposes of “ensuring fairness in competition or preventing sports-related injury.” The eligibility criteria for limiting or denying the student’s participation can include the use of “a sex marker or an identification document, such as a birth certificate, passport or driver’s license,” as well as other means of information-gathering like “physical examinations or medical testing or treatment related to a student’s sex characteristics.” In 2023, a total of 450 pieces of anti-trans legislation have been introduced across the U.S, according to the legislators. “We urge the Biden administration to revise this proposed policy in a way that
