Idaho Gov. Brad Little (image via public domain)After allowing two recently passed bills to sit on his desk for more than a week, Idaho Governor Brad Little chose to sign two anti-transgender bills into law on the eve of International Transgender Day of Visibility.
The laws take particular aim at transgender youth. House Bill 509 prohibits transgender people from changing the gender listed on their birth certificate. The legislation is clearly a direct rebuttal to a federal court’s decision to overturn Idaho’s previous ban on trans people amending their birth certificates.
In 2018, U.S. Magistrate Judge Candy Dale ruled a prohibition on updating birth certificates by Idaho’s Department of Health and Welfare was discriminatory because some citizens – like adoptive parents – were allowed to amend birth certificates while trans people were not. The court ruled that the ban could cause “irreparable injury and harm” to trans people.
Idaho Rep. Julianne Young (R) proposed a new ban against updating birth certificates claiming they are “historical” documents. House Bill 500 bans transgender student-athletes from participating in sports. This makes Idaho the first state in the country to pass legislation targeting transgender student-athletes.
Local news station KTVB reports the anti-LGBTQ group Family Policy Alliance of Idaho hailed the bills’ passage saying that the so-called “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” protects athletic opportunities for girls “by ensuring biological males don’t play in girls’ high school and college sports.”
The Idaho attorney general’s office has already told the press that it estimates it will cost $1 million to defend the law in court.
The new law also allows for female student-athletes gender to be “challenged” and forces the athlete to submit to medical exams to prove their gender.
“This bill asks doctors to perform procedures way outside of the standards of care,” pediatrician Jessica Duvall told Forbes. “Moreover, even if the tests were performed against medical society norms, more often than not they do not yield clear, easily interpreted results.”
The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement denouncing both laws said that both laws.
“We are living in an unprecedented global health crisis, with confirmed cases of COVID-19 increasing on a daily basis in Idaho, across the United States, and around the world, but Governor Brad Little and the Idaho legislature have decided to prioritize the demonization of transgender people,” said HRC President Alphonso David in a statement.
“This is unacceptable, and a gross misuse of taxpayer funds and trust. Idaho is leading the way in anti-transgender discrimination, and at a time when life is hard enough for everyone, Idaho’s elected leaders will be remembered for working to make their transgender residents’ lives even harder.”
Alex Schmider, GLAAD’s Associate Director of Transgender Representation, denounced the legislation as well writing, “Tonight, on the eve of Transgender Day of Visibility and while the United States is overwhelmed with a massive public health crisis, Idaho Governor Brad Little passed legislation targeting some of the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ community — transgender children.
“Although medical experts, sport governing bodies, and Idaho’s major employers have spoken out against these two bills, Governor Little has instead sided with discrimination,” Schmider continued. “Now, more than ever, transgender people need to be supported, not subjected to state-sponsored discrimination and suffering.”
“Our country is facing an unprecedented health crisis, and Gov. Little and members of the Idaho Legislature have prioritized attacking transgender student-athletes with this discriminatory and unnecessary new law,” said Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, deputy executive director for the National Center for Transgender Equality.
“State leaders should focus on protecting public health and safety, not on attacking vulnerable youth who want to play on a team with their peers. With so much suffering right now, Idaho is making sure trans kids suffer more.”
Texas: Trans Wrestler Forced To Compete As Girl Wins 2nd State Title
As I reported yesterday, transgender high school senior Mack Beggs returned to the state wrestling finals this weekend after winning his division last year.
Beggs has asked to compete in the boys division but the University Interscholastic League (UIL), which regulates high school athletics in Texas, made him compete in the girls division based on the gender listed on his birth certificate.
Beggs is undergoing hormone replacement therapy under the care of a doctor, which the UIL allows. Beggs said last year that he’s taking less than the recommended dosage of testosterone in order to stay within the “allowed level.”
Beggs’ weekly injection of .18 milliliters (36 milligrams) is medically prescribed and monitored for the primary purposes of stopping his menstrual cycles and allowing him to grow body and facial hair.
That dosage is tiny compared to what male body builders typically inject – 500 to 1,000 milligrams of testosterone per week.
Over the past years, parents of Beggs’ competitors have been vocal saying Beggs’ use of testosterone constituted an illegal advantage over girls calling the hormone treatment “steroid use.”
On Saturday evening, the transgender male wrestler ended his perfect 36-0 season by winning his second straight UIL girls Class 6A state title in the 110-pound weight class.
According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, there were a few boos last year but those cheering for Beggs drowned the haters out. This year the boos were back and more pronounced.
What I want to make absolutely clear is that Beggs’ won fair and square playing by the rules. Period.
Beggs’ focus moves now to “top surgery” in the next few months and then on college. He has already been offered a wrestling scholarship at an out of state college.
The NCAA, which regulates college athletics, allows transgender wrestlers to compete with their gender.
Watch video below of the last minute of Mack’s title-winning match.
End of Mack Beggs title match was chaos. Had huge lead, nearly got pinned, then came the crescendo of cheers/boos. pic.twitter.com/FrLixVsTAj— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) February 24, 2018
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Texas: Undefeated Trans High School Wrestler Looks To Repeat State Title
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| High school wrestler Mack Beggs |
One year ago, undefeated high school wrestler Mack Beggs won a Texas state wrestling title in his weight division.
The story was noteworthy not just because of the athletic achievement, but because Beggs is a transgender male who, due to state rules and laws covering scholastic athletics, is forced to compete as the gender assigned him at birth.
This year, Beggs is again undefeated going into the finals of state competition and, again, he will have to compete in the girls’ division.
Beggs would like to wrestle boys, but state law denies him that opportunity.
Although Beggs is aware of female wrestling opponents and their parents looking for evidence of “body-building” drug enhancement they might deem unfair, the truth is Beggs’ weekly injection of .18 milliliters (36 milligrams) is medically prescribed and monitored for the primary purposes of stopping his menstrual cycles and allowing him to grow body and facial hair.
Compare that dosage with what male body builders typically inject – 500 to 1,000 milligrams of testosterone per week.
In an interview with The Dallas Morning News, Beggs shared that he plans to have “top surgery” in the coming months and apparently has at least one offer to join a college wrestling team.
No matter what, Beggs is confident that other people’s bigotry will not hold him back in life.
“People don’t realize that what happened during state, that was really, honestly, nothing,” Beggs said. “That didn’t stop me from competing. That didn’t stop me from being who I was. It sure as hell didn’t stop me from doing what I wanted to do in the past, and it won’t stop me from what I want to do in the future.”
Watch Beggs’ interview below: