Texas To Sign A Pro-Science Anti-Trans Bill

Written By BlabberBuzz | Tuesday, 19 October 2021 12:00 PM
17
Views 3.7K
Texas To Sign A Pro-Science Anti-Trans Bill

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott should sign a bill demanding student-athletes in its public school system to play against teams that match with their biological sex.

Texas lawmakers passed H.B. 25 on Sunday after Abbott added it to the agenda of a special legislative assembly on redistricting in the state.

Critics of the legislation say it mistreats transgender student-athletes, while supporters say it stops placing female athletes at a problem with biologically male competitors.

According to the Movement Advancement Project, nine other states have banned transgender student-athletes from playing on teams matching with their gender identity either through legislation or executive order. In addition, several of those efforts are subject to ongoing litigation.

 TECH GIANTS JOIN FORCES WITH DHS IN HERCULEAN BATTLE AGAINST CHILD EXPLOITATIONbell_image

"[It will] protect girls' Title IX rights to play on a level playing field in sports," said Mary Elizabeth Castle, senior policy adviser for Texas Values, in a statement.

Rebecca Marques, Texas state director for Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ advocacy group, said if Abbott signs "this discriminatory bill, he is putting the health, safety, and very lives of transgender young people in Texas at risk."

 HORRIFIC FOOTAGE EMERGES: FRANTIC RESCUE EFFORTS AFTER RUSSIAN MISSILES HIT UKRAINIAN CITY (WATCH)bell_image

"These vulnerable kids are simply trying to navigate adolescence in an environment that lawmakers are making increasingly challenging," Marques said in a statement. "There is no need for this bill, and legislators have failed to provide examples of any problem in Texas related to trans kids playing sports alongside their peers. There is no appetite for this bill among the majority of Texans — it is simply designed to help Republican legislators win the votes of far right primary voters. A number of states that have passed similarly discriminatory and hateful legislation are already facing legal action. Signing this legislation would hurt families and make Texas a less competitive destination for companies and employees alike."

 HIGH-STAKES SUMMIT: G7 MULLS SANCTIONS ON IRAN, WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT?bell_image

A trans sports ban bill excused the Republican-controlled House 76-54 on Thursday, then went to the state Senate on Friday, passing 19-12. After returning to the House for reconciliation, it passed a final time 76-61. It now heads to Abbott, who has said he plans to sign it.

 WATCH: NEWT GINGRICH'S APPROACH TO "DEATH TO AMERICA" CHANTSbell_image

The University Interscholastic League in Texas, which oversees interscholastic competition in the state, has had a rule in place for five years that requires students to participate on school sports teams following the gender listed on their birth certificate. Still, during a Fox News town hall in April, Abbott said that "the Texas Legislature is working on a bill to codify that, which I will sign."

 WATCH: THIS IS HAPPENING HERE IN PLAIN SIGHTbell_image

The approved measure repeals a current UIL regulation that lets transgender students play if they've received a court order allowing them to alter the gender marker on their birth certificate.

Abbott, a Republican, placed a sports ban on the agenda for all three special legislative sessions ordered this year. It sailed through the Senate multiple times but repeatedly stalled in the House.

X