Last week, Idaho State Senate gave testimony for a third bill this year regarding transgender rights in Idaho. This bill would ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports teams. The bill, the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, will affect transgender athletes competing in high school and college.
Amendments added the bill would aim to forbid special treatment of any group. It requires the student athlete to submit a health examination form from a professional health care providers to verify biological sex based on exams.
For every bill presented in regards to transgender rights, suicide rates increase in the transgender community. According to ABC News, transgender youth are three times more likely to attempt suicide compared to their cisgender, people who identify with the gender they were assigned at birth, counterparts.
When presenting a bill with sensitive topics like this one, it is important to consider different groups that are being affected. Whether or not a team wins or loses, human lives are more important than the biological sex of team members.
Safety of people is crucial as well as equality for all groups. The bill aims to prohibit special treatment of any group and keep the playing field equal, except it only limits transgender women from competing. The bill would not pertain to transgender men, leaving room to question if this bill is fair. Creating this bill would aim to stop special treatment of any group but would only pertain to transgender women making it unfair and ultimately sexist.
We must consider communities that are going to be affected and how they are going to be affected. Idaho citizens should be concerned about the impact of this bill and those with an opinion need to make it heard. Reach out to your legislators.
Community members should support local organizations. Resources in the community include Inland Oasis and the Pride Foundation. On campus, the Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA), Alternatives to Violence on the Palouse (ATVP) and the Counseling and Testing Center (CTC) provide support for LGBTQA+ people and a safe space.
According to the Idaho Press, passing the bill would require passage of the full senate, concurrence from the House on the Senate amendments, amended passage in the full House and the governor’s signature.
As citizens, it is important to stay informed about what our legislation is currently doing and how it impacts the communities that surround us.
– Editorial Board
TheJudgeABCand123
Give me what I want or I'll throw a tantrum and threaten myself. That's what I'm reading.
Killer Marmot
Not a single word here on whether it is fair for biological women to have to compete against people who had ten times the amount of testosterone coursing through their veins as the grew up, resulting in a long list of physiological athletic advantages.