{"id":53195,"date":"2017-05-18T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2017-05-18T16:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-sb-2095-aims-to-block-transgender-texans-from-participating-in-school-athletics\/"},"modified":"2017-05-18T12:00:43","modified_gmt":"2017-05-18T16:00:43","slug":"how-sb-2095-aims-to-block-transgender-texans-from-participating-in-school-athletics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/how-sb-2095-aims-to-block-transgender-texans-from-participating-in-school-athletics\/","title":{"rendered":"How SB 2095 aims to block transgender Texans from participating in school athletics"},"content":{"rendered":"

How SB 2095 aims to block transgender Texans from participating in school athletics<\/b><\/p>\n

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The Texas House Committee on Public Education is considering a bill,\u00a0already passed<\/a>\u00a0by the State Senate,\u00a0which could be used to ban transgender students on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) from athletic participation by allowing the University Interscholastic League (UIL) to label their medical treatment as steroid use.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Currently, the UIL\u00a0already bars<\/a>\u00a0the use of steroids but protects students who receive hormones as part of HRT prescribed by a doctor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So why are politicians at the Texas State Capitol pushing to pass\u00a0Senate Bill 2095<\/a>?
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Senate Bill 2095 is an anti-trans<\/a> response to yet another anti-trans<\/a> policy in place by the\u00a0UIL which demands\u00a0birth certificates<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0be used to determine the gender division\u00a0for student athletes in Texas. This rule forces transgender athletes to either play against students who do not align with their gender or to go through the long and costly process of amending their birth certificate in order to participate in sports according to their gender identity.\u00a0The process to amend a birth certificate even more difficult in Texas because\u00a0there\u00a0is\u00a0no legal standard<\/a>\u00a0for gender-marker changes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This current discriminatory\u00a0policy has led to athletes\u00a0like\u00a0Mack Beggs<\/a>, a transgender male<\/a> wrestler at Euless Trinity, to be\u00a0forced to compete in the female<\/a> division, despite repeated calls<\/a>\u00a0to be allowed to play with his male<\/a> peers.\u00a0Now, instead of correcting the UIL policy to be more aligned with regulations rooted in science rather than anti-transgender fearmongering, such as those adopted by the\u00a0International Olympic Committee<\/a>\u00a0and other sport governing bodies, Texas lawmakers aim to ban athletes\u00a0like Beggs from participating in sports altogether.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SB 2095 is one of the 24 anti-LGBTQ bills constituting the \u201call-out assault on LGBT people<\/a>\u201d being waged by members of the Texas Legislature this session. Among them are SB 6 and HB 2899 which would establish state-sanctioned discrimination against transgender Texans by barring them from public accommodations. These anti-transgender bills are rooted in ignorance, fear, and hatred that put the privacy and safety of transgender Texans at risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Targeting transgender athletes with bills like SB\u00a02095 is not the solution for this self-made problem. If the UIL and Texas Legislature is truly interested in addressing the current misguided and discriminatory birth certificate policy, the LGBT Sports Foundation has created a\u00a0model policy<\/a>\u00a0for trans<\/a>-inclusive high school sports working with LGBTQ organizations such as GLAAD and the founder of\u00a0TransAthlete.com<\/a>, Chris Mosier.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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May 18, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n