Battle over trans athletes' participation in girls' sports goes to California Capitol
California lawmakers will consider two bills aimed at keeping transgender kids and teens off sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
The battle over transgender athletes’ participation in youth sports will come to California on Tuesday as state lawmakers debate two bills aimed at keeping trans kids and teens off sports teams consistent with their gender identity.
One of the proposals would reverse a 2013 law allowing students to participate on a sex-segregated sports team that aligns with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on their records. The other would require the California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body for high school sports, to adopt rules banning students whose sex was assigned male at birth from participating on a girls school sports team.
The Republican-backed bills are expected to draw a crowd to the state Assembly’s Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Tourism hearing, where lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled legislature will decide whether to advance them. Conservative political commentator Matt Walsh and a student-athlete who says a trans runner took her spot on her high school’s varsity cross country team are scheduled to testify in support of a ban.
The hearing comes a day after Transgender Day of Visibility. It also comes weeks after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom made waves and angered party allies when, speaking on his podcast, he questioned the fairness of transgender athletes participating in girls sports. Newsom hasn’t directly called for a reversal of state law and generally does not comment on pending legislation.
Democratic Assemblymember Chris Ward, the committee chair who leads the legislative LGBTQ+ caucus, said he hopes the hearing will “provide a balanced setting where both sides can present their arguments and engage in rational deliberation.”
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