Due to the November election, controversy has swept the United States. Human rights have been a focal point of American politics for years, and with the House of Representatives passing the ban on transgender athletes participating in female and male sports, these disagreements have no end in sight.
Passed in a 218 to 206 vote on Tuesday, Jan. 14 with two House Democrats joining the Republicans members, the legislation now goes to the Senate. If the Senate votes in favor of the bill it is sent to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into federal law, according to ACLU of Michigan LGBTQ+ Rights Attorney Jay Kaplan.
If public school districts don’t enforce the ban, federal funding can be withheld as punishment. Kaplan says the legislation violates the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions.
“In Michigan, we have a state civil rights law that prohibits discrimination [and] specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression,” Kaplan said. “Having a policy like this would violate our state civil rights law.”
According to Kaplan, only around 10 transgender students have been reported playing sports in the last 20 years in Michigan. South Athletic Director Andrew Rishmawi understands that the problem affects a small number of students, but that it will still be an important situation for staff at South to address in the future if the bill becomes a law.
“Our community seems to understand the rules of everything,” Rishmawi said. “They seem to respect rules and regulations. Of course, one way or another, someone’s going to be upset about something. This is something we’re gonna have to take a closer look at now.”
Contrary to Rishmawi, Kaplan sees this subject as a much more pressing issue that will create waves among the public. A law regarding school sports is something that Kapan feels should be taken seriously by everyone, due to the universal appeal and participation in sports.
“Let’s face it: a lot of kids like to play school sports. It makes them feel more involved in their school,” Kaplan said. “It’s the same reason why transgender students want to play sports. It’s not realistic to tell a transgender girl ‘you have to play on the boys team,’ because that’s not who she is.”
The argument is nowhere near one-sided, with advocates in favor of the bill, such as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson who ran the press conference on Jan. 14 after the House passed the ban, pushing back against the opinions of those like Kaplan.
“This is a great day for women in America,” Johnson said at the press conference. “We know from scripture and from nature that men are men and women are women, and men cannot become women. It’s dangerous, it’s unfair, it’s a rejection of reality and it’s just plain wrong.”
At Trump’s presidential inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, Trump officially announced that he and his administration acknowledge only two genders, male and female. With this, it seems more and more likely that Trump will take executive action on this bill, which makes it more likely that he will see direct opposition from organizations all across the country.
“There is political motivation behind this,” Kaplan said. “I hope that this doesn’t become a federal law, and whether it does, or whether the Trump administration tries to make it a policy, I know that we will see legal challenges to it, and we’ll see how it all plays out.”
