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Gov. Youngkin, GOP lawmakers push for transgender sports ban in Va.
Hat tip, WTOP
Gov. Youngkin, GOP lawmakers push for transgender sports ban in Va.
Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
January 16, 2025, 9:27 AM
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
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Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury
January 16, 2025, 9:27 AM
This article was reprinted with permission from Virginia Mercury.
{snip}
Youngkin, GOP lawmakers push for transgender sports ban
Legislation would require students to compete based on biological sex, reigniting the debate on fairness and inclusion.
By Charlotte Rene Woods - January 16, 2025
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, lawmakers, student athletes and national activist Riley Gaines speak about bills to stop transgender athletes from participating in K-12 and collegiate female sports teams. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Republican lawmakers, joined by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares and student athletes, gathered on Wednesday to support legislation that would bar transgender students from participating in school sport teams inconsistent with their biological sex. ... The proposed legislation in both the House and Senate would mandate that students’ biological sex be verified by a physician’s statement and restrict female sports teams to students whose birth certificates list them as female at birth.
While organizations like the Virginia High School League (VHSL) and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCCA) already have policies regulating transgender athlete participation, proponents of the measure aim to ban such participation entirely. ... Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer and now a political activist, defended the legislation, arguing that concerns about invasive exams are misplaced. “As an athlete, I can tell you, you have to have [a physical exam] to even be able to play the sports,” Gaines said.
A former Olympic trials qualifier, Gaines rose to prominence in 2022 after tying for fifth place with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas during a high-profile competition. Thomas made history as the NCAA’s first openly transgender woman athlete, competing on the women’s swim team. Though she’d initially swam for the men’s team, Thomas had met NCCA requirements by taking over a year off and undergoing hormone therapy. ... Gaines, however, has criticized such participation, claiming it creates an unfair playing field for cisgender women athletes. She has toured the country advocating for state and federal legislation aimed at restricting transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams.
Also standing alongside lawmakers and Gaines at Wednesday’s event were members of Liberty University’s swim and dive team and Roanoke College’s swim team. Roanoke’s team previously made headlines after rejecting a prospective transgender team member and later appearing with President-elect Donald Trump on stage during a Virginia campaign rally.
{snip}
Charlotte Rene Woods
Charlotte covers politics for Virginia Mercury following several years of state, local and federal government coverage at other Virginia outlets to include the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Charlottesville Tomorrow. Some focal points of her coverage for Virginia Mercury include health and housing policy.
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Legislation would require students to compete based on biological sex, reigniting the debate on fairness and inclusion.
By Charlotte Rene Woods - January 16, 2025
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, lawmakers, student athletes and national activist Riley Gaines speak about bills to stop transgender athletes from participating in K-12 and collegiate female sports teams. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
Republican lawmakers, joined by Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares and student athletes, gathered on Wednesday to support legislation that would bar transgender students from participating in school sport teams inconsistent with their biological sex. ... The proposed legislation in both the House and Senate would mandate that students’ biological sex be verified by a physician’s statement and restrict female sports teams to students whose birth certificates list them as female at birth.
While organizations like the Virginia High School League (VHSL) and the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCCA) already have policies regulating transgender athlete participation, proponents of the measure aim to ban such participation entirely. ... Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer and now a political activist, defended the legislation, arguing that concerns about invasive exams are misplaced. “As an athlete, I can tell you, you have to have [a physical exam] to even be able to play the sports,” Gaines said.
A former Olympic trials qualifier, Gaines rose to prominence in 2022 after tying for fifth place with University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas during a high-profile competition. Thomas made history as the NCAA’s first openly transgender woman athlete, competing on the women’s swim team. Though she’d initially swam for the men’s team, Thomas had met NCCA requirements by taking over a year off and undergoing hormone therapy. ... Gaines, however, has criticized such participation, claiming it creates an unfair playing field for cisgender women athletes. She has toured the country advocating for state and federal legislation aimed at restricting transgender athletes from competing on women’s sports teams.
Also standing alongside lawmakers and Gaines at Wednesday’s event were members of Liberty University’s swim and dive team and Roanoke College’s swim team. Roanoke’s team previously made headlines after rejecting a prospective transgender team member and later appearing with President-elect Donald Trump on stage during a Virginia campaign rally.
{snip}
Charlotte Rene Woods
Charlotte covers politics for Virginia Mercury following several years of state, local and federal government coverage at other Virginia outlets to include the Richmond Times-Dispatch and Charlottesville Tomorrow. Some focal points of her coverage for Virginia Mercury include health and housing policy.
Virginia Mercury is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.