In 2021 alone, twenty-eight of the fifty states so far have proposed legislation that either restricts or completely denies transgender youth basic opportunities-- including healthcare and team sports. Many argue that the transgender body has always been the American government’s playground; it just took Florida’s 11th-hour bill to get the nation’s attention.
In an early form of this bill, which alleges that transgender athletes should not be allowed to compete in sports, “genital checks” could have been mandated for minors under suspicion of being transgender, especially young transgender girls. While this form of the bill had seemingly fallen through, it was revived on the evening of April 28th, 2021. The bill passed both Florida’s House and Senate with ease, and on April 30th, Governor DeSantis stated that he would be signing the bill.
“It’s the fact that people claimed it wouldn’t pass, and then let it pass anyway,” said an anonymous transgender athlete. “It could literally happen anywhere, even here [in Northern California] because nobody pays mind to it-- or worse, they support it.”
The bill operates on the idea that the biological male body is naturally more athletically fit than the biological female body, and completely disregards the effects of hormone treatment and the transitioning process. It paints transgender women as a threat to female sports.
Ridding the legislation of the genital check mandate was considered a compromise. Many argue, however, that people should be doing much more to protect an already vulnerable demographic of children.
“The truth is that every single transsexual who competes against a girl wins, and girls lose out on athletic scholarships and awards they worked all their lives for,” are the words of Anthony Verdugo, executive director of the Christian Family Coalition of Florida and avid supporter of the bill. “A guy beating her in wrestling, or in running or another sport, that’s fair?”
After twelve months of estrogen hormone therapy, a transgender woman would be able to meet the testosterone level required for college athletics, an NCAA study finds, proving that the fight against transgender youth in sports is not over.
“I wish more people would look out for us, you know?” asks the anonymous athlete. “This type of thing shouldn’t have been a blindsided blow.” They hope for a future in which this type of legislation isn’t able to slip by anymore.
Cover photo by Sophie Yurkovich.
About the writer:
Sophie Yurkovich is a staff writer for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more information about the writer by clicking here.
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