Virginia Republicans hope to ban trans youth from sports

Virginia Sen. Jennifer Kiggans (R)  introduced Senate Bill 766, which seeks to ban trans girls and women from participating in school-based sports activities according to their gender.

S.B. 766, first reported by the Washington Blade, calls for amending the Virginia Code to add a section dedicated to “Athletics; participation in female sports.”

S.B. 766 mimics other states around the country that have recently banned trans girls and women from participating in sports programs in school or organized by state-funded, although other bills tend to ban trans youth altogether.

Since 2020, ten states with Republican-led legislatures or GOP governors have passed some form of ban on trans youth in sports: IdahoSouth Dakota, MississippiArkansasAlabamaTennesseeMontanaWest VirginiaFlorida, and Texas. Many more proposed bills that ultimately failed to enact similar bans, but 2021 became the year with the most anti-LGBTQ legislation based on advocates’ tracking.

Some bans, including Idaho’sFlorida’sTennessee’s and West Virginia’s, are being challenged in court and may not survive judicial review.

via LGBTQ Nation