On the first day of Pride Month, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning transgender girls from playing on girl’s school sports teams.
The Republican governor signed the controversial bill on Tuesday, making Florida the latest state to limit transgender participation in school sports.
“In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports, and boys are going to play boys sports. We’re going to make sure that that’s the reality,” DeSantis stated.
The law states that transgender female student-athletes can’t participate in all-girl sports if they cannot produce a birth certificate stating that they were declared a female at birth. What remains unclear is whether all female athletes will be required to show their birth certificates or just those whose gender comes into question. The bill allows students to sue a school that allows transgender students to play on girl’s teams. The law does not bar female athletes from playing on boy’s teams.
The legislation results from the longstanding belief that biological distinctions between males and females make it unfair for transgender female athletes to compete in female sports.
Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David slammed the new law, stating that all Floridians will face the repercussions of the anti-transgender bill once lawsuits roll in, launching taxpayer-funded legal battles.
State Senator Shevrin Jones also criticized the bill, calling it “another hate-driven attack from the governor and Republican legislators.”
“At the end of the day, transgender kids are just kids,” Jones stated.
The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” takes effect on July 1st.
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