The Texas House approved a bill on Thursday requiring student athletes to engage in team sports that are compatible with their birth certificate gender. This is thereby excluding transsexual men from participating on female sports teams.
There Should be No Objection to the Bill
Despite the fact similar proposals died in the state legislature previously, this one is projected to clear the Senate and (assuming it gets a signature from Republican Governor Greg Abbott) become law.
The Texas Senate, which passed identical measures previously this year, is likely to approve the bill. Texas becomes the fourth state to provide such safeguards for female sports, if the bill is passed.
Texas bill makes trans students play on sports teams according to birth gender https://t.co/Pg1wfNrhrW pic.twitter.com/BOSl0ZXgAg
— New York Post (@nypost) October 15, 2021
After a 76-54 initial acceptance vote and ten hours of discussion, HB 25 successfully passed the House. On Thursday, Republican Congresswoman Valoree Swanson (one of the bill’s most vocal supporters and writers) claimed adopting the bill was a question of both justice and acknowledging biological differences between the sexes.
Swanson stated on Thursday, “biological males, in regards to providing significantly higher levels of testosterone, have numerous other physiological benefits that girls simply cannot conquer.”
According to the measure, K-12 college athletes in school systems can only join sports teams based on the sex of their identity documents. Aside from a clerical error, the bill does not recognize birth certificates that have been altered to reflect somebody’s preferred sex.
We’re all aware men and women are made in distinct ways. Swanson noted last week the data shows the unfairness of pushing our daughters and granddaughters to battle against men. To imply otherwise is to deny them their dignity, personality, and humanity.
The Liberals are Mad
Many Texas liberals, LGBT organizations, and others are outraged by the bill, which they say discriminates against transgender people.
“We certainly understand this is a total non-issue; there is no problem with transgender students participating in sports,” said Texas House LGBTQ Caucus Chairwoman Mary González. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) also spoke out against the bill.
The bill's main impact, other than sanctioning bigotry and marginalization, is to change the current guidelines which allow kids to play sports in concert with their gender identity only if their birth certificate has been altered to not at all. https://t.co/wTLscxqyDE
— The Nation (@thenation) October 16, 2021
“By prohibiting transsexual students from engaging in activities with their peers, Texas is violating federal law and putting already vulnerable youth at risk of emotional and mental damage,” stated Adri Perez of the ACLU’s Texas branch.
Supporters of the measure, on the other hand, said it was vital to ensure equal participation in women’s teams. If you’re playing softball, men can sprint faster, strike the ball farther, hit three-point shots, and recover faster. They can beat ladies in athletics because, as I already stated, they are faster runners.
So they’re powerful; they can defeat women in wrestling, which has already occurred in Texas. Last month, Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick informed KVUE that the massive disparities are simply just not right or fair.
