Florida governor signs bill placing limits on transgender females competing in girls’ sports
Video above: Athletes say bans on transgender players must stop
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law that bans transgender girls and women in the state from playing on public school teams intended for student-athletes born as girls.
The bill was signed at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville on Tuesday. The private school would not be subject to the law.
"(Florida sports) provides our young girls with opportunities that last a lifetime," DeSantis said. "We believe the integrity of those competitions are preserved, that these opportunities are protected."
Under the proposal sent to the governor, a transgender student-athlete would have to affirm her biological sex by supplying proof, such as a birth certificate.
"In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports," DeSantis said as he signed the bill into law. "We're going to make sure that that's the reality."
DeSantis said students who feel they have been deprived by an athletic opportunity as a result of a violation against the law will have a right to civil remedies.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani’s responded: "Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law the state’s first anti-LGBTQ bill in 23 years. This bigoted, transphobic piece of legislation targets one of the most vulnerable groups of people in our state: transgender youth. It excludes transgender people from public life, including participation in sports. It’s shameful that our governor and Florida’s Republican Party would attack a group of people who already experience constant discrimination, bullying, and high rates of suicide."
State Commissioner Nikki Fried called the law a heartless ban: "By signing a heartless ban on transgender kids in sports, Gov. DeSantis is marginalizing an entire community. Signing it on the first day of Pride Month is especially cruel. Florida should stand for inclusivity, equality, and liberty – not peddling hate for political points."
The new law, sure to be challenged as unconstitutional, inflames an already contentious discussion unfolding nationally as Republican-controlled states move to limit the rights of LGBTQ people, whose advocates were especially frustrated that the legislation was signed on the first day of Pride Month.
The NCAA, which oversees college athletics, has said it has "a long-standing policy that provides a more inclusive path for transgender participation in college sports." The NCAA currently requires transgender women to get treatment to lower their testosterone levels before they can compete in women’s sports.