Source: Politics<\/p>\n
TALLAHASSEE \u2014 The GOP-controlled Florida House on Wednesday passed controversial legislation banning transgender athletes from playing girls\u2019 sports, shifting attention to the state Senate where final approval is needed to send the bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis.<\/p>\n
The 77-40 mostly party-line vote, with all but one Democrat opposing, came one day after House Democrats held up a floor session for hours attempting to scale back the measure. GOP lawmakers say the bill is needed to protect the sanctity of women\u2019s sports, but opponents contend it would only \u201clegalize bullying\u201d for transgender students.<\/p>\n
\u201cHB 1475 is purely political, and it plays on the fears and the ignorance about the transgender community in order to score partisan points,\u201d state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando), an openly gay lawmaker, told reporters ahead of Wednesday\u2019s vote.<\/p>\n
House and Senate Republicans in Florida have seized on women\u2019s sports as a priority in 2021, following the path of more than 20 other GOP-leaning states that are using the issue to limit transgender rights. LGBTQ advocacy groups like Equality Florida are aligned with the majority of Democrats in opposing the legislation, arguing it would lead to increased stigma and misinformation surrounding transgender students.<\/p>\n
The idea issue was magnified on Monday when the NCAA put states like Florida on notice, warning that locations that don\u2019t treat all student athletes with \u201cdignity and respect\u201d could be ineligible to host future championship games.<\/p>\n
Democrats attempted to leverage the NCAA\u2019s stance against Republicans by cautioning that Florida could lose out on millions of dollars in revenue should events move elsewhere, similar to how the MLB pulled its All-Star Game from Atlanta over Georgia\u2019s new voting rights laws. But that failed to sway the House\u2019s GOP majority, who maintained the bill protects fairness in women\u2019s sports.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an inherent, biological, undeniable difference between men and women, boys and girls,\u201d said state Rep. Traci Koster (R-Tampa). \u201cSimply put: we were designed differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Democrats pushed back against that rhetoric, insisting the legislation is aimed at LGBTQ rights and not girls\u2019 athletics.<\/p>\n
\u201cSports have become another avenue to attack the rights of trans people,\u201d said state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando). \u201cAnd those efforts have caused incredible harm to trans youth, who, like all kids, especially in the middle of a pandemic, deserve compassion and support.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dubbed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, the House bill lays out that female sports teams in Florida are specifically for \u201cbiological\u201d women and girls while also creating a path for handling gender disputes by requiring a medical professional to verify a student\u2019s sex. The law would apply to students in K-12 and higher education.<\/p>\n
Democrats on Tuesday lobbed 19 amendments at the proposal during its initial House floor hearing, spending three hours going back and forth with one other in questions and debate, begging Republicans to engage with them.<\/p>\n
One GOP lawmaker did step up to bash the NCAA, claiming Democrats were mistakenly holding the organization up as a \u201cmoral compass.\u201d The Florida Legislature has a history of sparring with the NCAA, including last session when lawmakers passed a bill allowing student athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness, circumventing the organization’s long-standing policies.<\/p>\n
One House member suggested the states that pass transgender sports bans should unite and create their own athletic association to rebuke the NCAA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know exactly what they\u2019ll do if this law passes,\u201d state Rep. Chip LaMarca (R-Lighthouse Point) said Tuesday. \u201cThe same thing they do for our student athletes right now \u2014 and that\u2019s nothing. They treat them like free labor.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the House bill officially passed, it\u2019s now the Senate\u2019s turn take up its measure. FL SB2012 (21R) was slated for its final hearing on Wednesday but got temporarily postponed by sponsor Sen. Kelli Stargel (R-Lakeland) due to the packed Rules Committee agenda.<\/p>\n
Stargel\u2019s bill, which breaks from the House version by allowing athletes who declare as female to participate in sports if their testosterone levels are below a certain mark, could resurface at a meeting on April 20.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll eyes are on the Florida Senate to stop this cruel legislation and protect the transgender youth this bill vilifies,\u201d said Jon Harris Maurer, Public Policy Director for Equality Florida.<\/p>\n