What is presently in place for public and private high schools when it comes to rules for transgenderism in girls’ sports doesn’t go far enough for GOP lawmakers.
Under current rules, transgender girls are required to have at least one year of hormone therapy before competing on a girls’ team and must continue with the therapy to equalize competitiveness with non-transgender girls by maintaining their hormone levels.
“Part of the compromise is that you can still participate if you're transitioning male to female but there are steps that you have to take in order to ensure that participation,” said Jason West, communications director with the Missouri State High School Activities Association. “You can't just wake up in the morning and participate on the girls' basketball team because you woke up feeling like a girl.”
West
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As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, Sen. Ben Brown (R-Washington) proposed the Save Women's Sports Act to restrict transgender student-athletes. It is among six bills that were reviewed by the Senate Emerging Issues Committee last month, and Senate President Pro Tem Caleb Rowden (R-Columbia) has said Republicans support legislation that restricts trans athletes.
“While the NCAA language was what was used as a template for our membership if the legislature enacts a new state law and it has specific language in there, then that is exactly what our members would follow,” West told the St. Louis Record.
Brown’s Senate Bill 87 would tie participation in school sports with the gender stated on a transgendered girl or boy’s birth certificate.
Critics of the legislation label it as being politically divisive.
So far, the MSHSAA has not received any complaints from non-transgender students or their parents, according to West.
“There is not a tracking element to the application process,” he said. “Once a student is approved, they have eligibility for the remainder of their interscholastic career. There are some things that they may need to provide each year to the school to ensure they are following the procedures as the rule calls for.”
Since 2012, MSHSAA data shows only 13 students have been approved of which nine are transitioning from girl to boy and four are transitioning from boy to girl, and five of the 13 students applied in the past year.
“What we strive to do is provide everyone, be it a state legislator, a school board member or a school administrator, with the information to make the correct decision for their school community,” West added.