Source: Politics<\/p>\n
TALLAHASSEE \u2014 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Tuesday a policy banning transgender athletes from playing girls and women\u2019s sports that opponents have condemned as deeply discriminatory against transgender athletes and students.<\/p>\n
Dubbed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,\u201d Florida\u2019s new law establishes that women\u2019s sports from middle school through college, including intramurals and club teams, are closed to males based on the biological sex listed on a student\u2019s birth certificate. The measure has been widely celebrated by Republicans for \u201cprotecting the integrity\u201d of girls athletics. Florida joined more than 20 other GOP-leaning states<\/a> pushing similar ideas. <\/p>\n Democrats by and large disavow the policy, claiming it\u2019s unwarranted in the state, fuels transphobia<\/a> and discriminates against transgender students. At least one group is pledging to sue Florida over the legislation.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Florida, girls are going to play girls sports and boys are going to play boys sports,\u201d DeSantis said, speaking at a private school in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n The Republican governor made a show of signing the bill on Tuesday by highlighting a well-known example of transgender high school sprinters<\/a> from Connecticut besting their competition on the track.<\/p>\n DeSantis, flanked by student athletes from the Jacksonville-based Trinity Christian Academy on stage, streamed a video of transgender athlete Terry Miller winning a race in 2019, then introduced one of her competitors, Selina Soule, to address the audience. Soule, a Connecticut high school track athlete who has been outspoken against allowing transgender athletes to compete, told the crowd her experience losing to transgender girls was \u201cfrustrating\u201d and \u201cdemoralizing.\u201d<\/p>\n DeSantis has signed into a law a slate of conservative-leaning bills from the GOP-led Legislature, including measures cracking down on Big Tech, loosening Covid restrictions and tightening voting rules, ahead of his reelection and possible bid for the White House in 2024. <\/p>\n Some 11 transgender athletes have applied since 2013-14 under the Florida High School Athletic Association\u2019s participation policy, which allows students to petition to play sports regardless of the gender listed on their birth certificate. Democrats attempted to use this rule as an example that the law was unnecessary in Florida. The only in-state instance of transgender athletes that lawmakers could reference during session involved bowling. <\/p>\n Democrats on Tuesday were quick to note how DeSantis signed the legislation on the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month, a move Democratic Agriculture commissioner and likely 2022 gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried said was \u201cespecially cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy signing a heartless ban on transgender kids in sports, Governor DeSantis is marginalizing an entire community,\u201d Fried said in a statement. \u201cFlorida should stand for inclusivity, equality, and liberty \u2014 not peddling hate for political points.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked, DeSantis said the timing behind the bill signing had nothing to do with Pride Month. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a message to anything other than saying we\u2019re going to protect fairness in women\u2019s sports,\u201d DeSantis said.<\/p>\n Shortly after DeSantis signed the measure, the Human Rights Campaign pledged to challenge the legislation in court, claiming it is \u201cfueled by discriminatory intent and not supported by fact.\u201d The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging a similar law<\/a> that lawmakers recently passed in West Virginia. <\/p>\n