Click to copy

GOP lawmakers renew attempt at transgender girl sports ban

By ANDREW WELSH-HUGGINSJune 2, 2022 GMT

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2021 file photo, fwo Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers look out from the Ohio Statehouse roof in Columbus. Republican lawmakers in Ohio on Thursday, June 24, have moved to approve a bill banning transgender girls from participating in female sports teams in high school or college. The proposal, titled the Save Women’s Sports Act, would require schools and higher education institutions in the state to designate “separate single-sex teams and sports for each sex.” (Doral Chenoweth/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Transgender girls would be barred from competing in sports in Ohio under the latest effort by Republican lawmakers to pass a transgender athletes ban.

The measure was inserted into an unrelated education bill Wednesday night and approved along partisan lines. The legislation says no school or athletic conference “shall permit individuals of the male sex to participate on athletic teams or in athletic competitions designated only for participants of the female sex.”

“We want everyone in the state of Ohio to be able to compete fairly,” said GOP Rep. Jena Powell, Gongwer News Service reported.

The bill’s fate is unclear. A similar effort by House Republicans died a year ago, and the Senate has adjourned for the summer. GOP Gov. Mike DeWine has questioned the need for such a ban, saying the matter is best handled by leagues and athletic associations.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association has consistently said there’s no evidence of a problem posed by transgender girls competing in sports, and the number of such participants is minor.