Trans student athletes will be allowed to play on in Utah after one brave judge’s decision.
Judge Keith Kelly and the Third District Court of Utah granted a preliminary injunction against H.B. 11, blocking the new anti-trans law from being enforced–at least for now.
After a two-day hearing, the court concluded that “the Defendants do not offer persuasive reasons to categorically ban all transgender girls from competing on girls’ teams.”
Related: Teens sue in Utah to be allowed to play sports in school
How about we take this to the next level?
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This move is more than necessary, as we’ve already seen its negative effects spiraling out.
Just this week, two pairs of sore loser parents tried to report the girl who beat their daughters for being transgender. The investigation from the Utah High School Activities Association (UHSAA) concluded that she wasn’t and the loser parents were lying.
UHSAA Legislative Liaison David Spatafore said that he had also received some other complaints about her, including one that said, “That female athlete doesn’t look feminine enough.”
This ridiculous situation is a symptom of transphobia that has been predicted time and time again; with the huge range of diversity in human sexual dimorphism, hunting people over biological differences is naturally going to effect cis folks too.
Just last year, two cis runners were restricted from competing in the Olympics simply for having higher testosterone levels than were deemed acceptable.
The testosterone limit was originally intended to target cases like Caster Semenya, an intersex Olympian runner, but naturally, the discrimination spilled over into affecting cis women.
Related: Angel Joy Flores is fighting for a world where young trans athletes can chase their dreams
This recently escalating trans panic joins the conservative crusade against drag queens and “groomer” allegations against the queer community in what seems to be something like a new age Lavender Scare.
Thankfully, there are still folks like Judge Kelly who have retained some sense.
“My husband and I are very relieved by this decision,” said Debbie Roe, a parent Plaintiff in the lawsuit. “We are grateful the court understood how much harm this law has caused, which has been a huge source of stress and trauma for our child.
“Our daughter just wants the same chance as other kids to make friends and play on the team she loves. Today’s ruling gives her the opportunity to do that.”
johncp56
There is room for everyone, I missed out in PE as coming out at 14, not in a flaming way, I was so uncomfortable, sports still are the boys club, got to end,
monty clift
Good. This whole thing about how trans can’t play sports in their respective identities because “biological advantage” is stupid, it only ends up putting non-trans athletes in harms way as well.
darthgeneric
The cis female athletes quoted were both excluded for having the same intersex condition (XY DSD). It’s widely know to be extremely over represented in woman’s professional sports, which is in itself proof that the higher testosterone of some intersex conditions create an unfair advantage. I’m not attacking their identity as women, it’s just quite obviously an unfair advantage by the standards of professional sports. Most research in trans women suggests similar lingering advantages. Even after transition. It is simply not fair for them to compete in a gender segregated devision as of now. That doesn’t justify all the hate they have received though. And I see no reason trans men should be excluded.
Eternal.Cowboy
The upper limit for testosterone in women’s sports is below the range that women naturally fall in. So there are cisgendered women that have testosterone levels that are 100% normal but have to take hormone suppressants to compete. This talk of “fairness” is straight up bullshit. Women’s performance in professional sports is intentionally suppressed. We have no idea how trans women and intersexed folks do compared to cities-women because we don’t know what cis women can do. If y’all all conferenced about fairness let’s start by not limiting people’s performance.
Den
“Most research in trans women suggests similar lingering advantages.”
It would be more correct to state that SOME research suggests lingering advantages. And the takeaway is that cases concerning actual competitive events need to take into account athletic history prior to transition, and at what stage of life transition occurred (including how long after puberty is occurred. These things need to be considered on a case by case basis. Blanket legal bans are simply silly as there are very few individuals involved, and in competitive events winners have not generally been trans competitors (trump apparently tells a long complex lie about a trans powerlifter at his “rallies”, demonstrating mostly that he actually knows nothing about the sport). The issue of men claiming to be trans just to gain access to women/girls locker rooms is a total bogeyman, especially given how easy it is for men to do so as coached, officials or otherwise in positions of authority.
Eternal.Cowboy
Congrats to all our resident transphobes. All your wringing of hands about fairness in sports has created witch hunts that target cisgendered women for not looking feminine enough. But let’s be honest, your concern was never about fairness it was about preserving misogyny which is exactly the results you got. Now women get to have their femininity policed by society at large.
marxist_homo
Are you drunk? Society has been policing femininity (and masculinity) since the beginning of society. Also, these “witch hunts” are a direct response to trans activists demanding we all give them a medal for having a fetish. It has sparked a backlash, and cis women, gay men, and lesbians will all suffer because of it.
JohnnyBoy2
In many sports, I don’t think that it is fair to genetic women to have to compete against trans women who transitioned after puberty. It is obvious that they retain a huge genetic advantage, despite some fudged studies that declare the opposite.
darthgeneric
I can’t find a single example of a female athlete who was excluded for high testosterone who isn’t actually intersex. Obviously their gender identity is female but physically they are intersex. If there is any example of a female athlete without an intersex condition with that high of testosterone please let me know but conveniently ignoring that only intersex woman are failing the testosterone tests is willfully ignorant. I understand that obviously these women have lived their entire lives in most cases unaware that they are intersex. I understand that just because they have an intersex condition it is unfair to attack them and they have faced unfair treatment and harassment, but intersex xy DSD people despite being very rare in the general population are more than 500 times over represented in professional sports compared to non intersex women. Sports restrictions are based on sex not gender identity, and their intersex status provides a massive inherent advantage.