Brief: Possible Ban On Sports For Transgender Women

Zanna Ingram, Copy Editor

A bill that would prevent transgender students from participating in women’s sports is currently being debated in the Kansas State Legislature.

The bill states that due to the biological advantage of people assigned male at birth, transgender girls and women have an unfair advantage when participating in sports against cisgender women.

A physical examination by a students health care provider would be required if there is a “dispute” regarding a students biological sex.

“The healthcare provider may verify the student’s biological sex as part of a routine sports physical examination relying only on one or more of the following: (A) The student’s reproductive anatomy; (B) genetic makeup; or (C) normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.”

Callie Hicks, a former pole vaulter at the University of Kansas who testified in support of the bill attended Free State and participated in track and field from 2014 to 2016.

“It is at the core of my being that I believe and know to be true — biological men have an unfair advantage competing against biological women in women’s sports,” Hicks said. “To say otherwise denies overwhelming data in sports statistics as well as science.”

Opponents of the bill say the bill is an unnecessary harm to transgender students and is using fairness as a way to disguse bigotry.