A bill to bar transgender girls and young women from participating in school sports has been introduced in the Maine House of Representatives. The bill, LD 926, would apply to students ranging from elementary all the way up to post-secondary school sports programs, according to the Boston-based GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD).
“The bill would also require an invasive and demeaning medical examination for any girl or young woman who is wrongly excluded from participation on a girls’ or women’s team, notes a press release from GLAD, in which several leading LGBT advocates in Maine weighed in:
“As Mainers we all want fairness in school sports but this bill isn’t fair, it’s harmful to young people. Not only would the bill exclude some girls and young women from important developmental opportunities because of who they are, it would subject any girl who wants to challenge that exclusion to a prying and privacy-invading medical exam,” said Gia Drew, program director at EqualityMaine.
“This bill is misguided and harmful. Efforts to ban trans girls from participating in girls’ sports jeopardize their mental health, physical well-being and ability to access education opportunities similar to other students. All children, including trans children, belong in Maine,” said Quinn Gormley, executive director of MaineTransNet.
“This bill is misguided and harmful. Efforts to ban trans girls from participating in girls’ sports jeopardize their mental health, physical well-being and ability to access education opportunities similar to other students. All children, including trans children, belong in Maine, said Meagan Sway, policy pirector, ACLU of Maine.
“We can have both fairness for girls and inclusion of all girls in sports. Allowing young people to develop and grow as people through participating in sports is good for them and for their, and all our, futures. That’s the track record we’ve built in Maine,” said Mary L. Bonauto, Civil Rights Project Director at GLAD.
Not a subscriber? Sign up today for a free subscription to Boston Spirit magazine, New England’s premier LGBT magazine. We will send you a copy of Boston Spirit 6 times per year and we never sell/rent our subscriber information. Click HERE to sign up!
