Continuing the thread of anti-transgender measures that almost two dozen states have considered or are considering, Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill into law April 23 that requires all Alabama athletes in K-12 public school to compete in sports based on the gender they were assigned at birth, CNN.com reported.
HB (House Bill) 391 states that no K-12 public school is allowed to "participate in, sponsor, or provide coaching staff for interscholastic athletic events at which athletes are allowed to participate in competition against athletes who are of a different biological gender, unless the event specifically includes both biological genders."
Alabama Republican Rep. Scott Stadthagen sponsored the bill.
So far this year, South Dakota, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee have enacted similar sports bans, with Arkansas also approving a measure earlier this month that prohibits physicians in the state from providing gender-affirming treatments to trans youth.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) website noted that so far more than 250 anti-LGBTQ bills under consideration in state legislatures across the country. Of those, more than 120 directly target transgender people and at least 66 of those would, like HB 391, ban transgender girls from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
HRC President Alphonso David said, "HB 391 is nothing more than a politically motivated bill designed to discriminate against an already vulnerable population. By signing this legislation, Gov. Ivey is forcefully excluding transgender children. Let's be clear here: transgender children are children. They deserve the same opportunity to learn valuable skills of teamwork, sportsmanship, and healthy competition with their peers. Simply put, Alabamans deserve better than lawmakers who legislate against the health and safety of all kids for cheap political gain."