SD Gov. Introduces Ban on Trans Student-Athletes
State continues to target transgender youth on the playing fi eld
BY MATT TRACY
South Dakota Governor
Kristi Noem is scrambling
to advance legislation
that would ban
transgender girls, women, and
some non-binary student-athletes
from playing sports in grade school
or college, representing the latest
chapter in a continuous campaign
against transgender youth in the
state.
Noem killed a similar anti-trans
sports bill earlier this year because
that legislation, she argued, would
have imposed an overwhelming
administrative burden on schools.
She also worried about the effect
such a law would have had on colleges
given that the measure was
inconsistent with nationwide policies
governing college sports.
The governor later took matters
into her own hands when she issued
a pair of separate but related
executive orders. One of the
orders focused on banning trans
and some non-binary youth from
participating in girls’ grade school
sports, while the other one sidelined
transgender and non-binary
individuals from women’s sports
at the collegiate level. The grade
school order was based on “their
birth certifi cate or affi davit provided
upon initial enrollment” and the
order directed at colleges required
participants folks’ “birth certifi cate
issued at time of birth.”
Noem is now setting her sights
on codifying the executive orders
— and this time the governor is
ensuring the proposed legislation
does not have the same administrative
requirements for
schools.
The law allows athletes or
schools that “suffer direct or indirect
harm as a result of a violation”
of the law to have a “private cause
of action for injunctive relief and
any other equitable relief available
under law…”
Notably, the new bill still targets
student-athletes at the collegiate
level — even after Noem previously
expressed reservations about
whether the earlier bill would
South Dakota Governor Kristin Noem is undaunted in her campaign to sideline transgender athletes in
her state.
knock schools out of compliance
with national sports governing
bodies.
“Governor Noem’s proposed legislation
is clearly fueled by a fear
and misunderstanding of transgender
people in our state,” Jett
Jonelis, the advocacy manager of
the ACLU of South Dakota, said in
a written statement. “Gov. Noem
says she wants to ‘promote fairness
in women’s sports,’ but if that
were true, she’d tackle the actual
threats to women’s sports such as
severe underfunding, lack of media
coverage, sexist ideologies that
suggest that women and girls are
weak, and pay equity for coaches.”
Jonelis continued, “Bills like
this that seek to ban trans women
and girls from participation in athletics
are based on inaccurate stereotypes
about biology, athleticism
and gender and are not in line with
South Dakota values.”
Other advocacy groups in the
state echoed Jonelis’ concern.
Equality South Dakota, a statewide
LGBTQ organization, said in
a tweet that transgender individuals
in South Dakota “are not up for
debate.”
“Trans girls are girls,” Equality
South Dakota wrote on Twitter
after Noem introduced the legislation.
“Trans women are women.
Period.”
The bill’s fate is unclear — and
state lawmakers in South Dakota
have repeatedly failed to succeed
in their efforts to enact bans on
transgender student-athletes in
REUTERS/JONATHAN DRAKE
the state. The newest bill marks
the eighth the time state has tried
to pass such legislation, according
to the ACLU of South Dakota, and
last year the South Dakota State
Senate nixed a bill that would have
criminalized doctors for providing
gender-affi rming care for trans
SPORTS
youth.
Even if the proposed sports ban
is eventually enacted, there are lingering
questions about how — or
whether — schools would comply
with it. Not all school boards or administrators
immediately enforced
Noem’s two executive orders, according
to the Associated Press,
and the South Dakota High School
Activities Association (SDHSAA)
has maintained the position that
students should be able to participate
in sports in accordance with
their gender identity.
South Dakota is among a growing
number of states to curtail the
rights of transgender student-athletes,
including Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Idaho, Mississippi,
Montana, and Tennessee. In some
states, such as Idaho and West
Virginia, judges have temporarily
blocked legislation targeting trans
student-athletes.
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