American trans athletes are hopeful Joe Biden will begin to challenge the increasing number of regulations which prevent trans people from participating in sporting categories which align with their gender identity. As Biden is due to be sworn in next week, many are waiting for him to fulfill his promise to restore transgender student’s access to sports, following a year where 17 states proposed bills to prevent trans athletes from competing.
According to the Independent, Idaho is the only state which made the bill an official law, but there has still been increased hostility towards trans athletes over the last year. Chase Strangio, the American Civil Liberties Union’s deputy director for transgender justice, said once Biden assumes power, “states that, like Idaho, attempt to bar trans girls from girls sports, regardless of age of transition, medical intervention or anything else, with a new federal administration, will now be risking lawsuits by the federal government, Justice Department intervention and the loss of federal funding.”
Despite Trump’s presidency rapidly coming to an end, multiple states have recently introduced bills to bar trans students from accessing gender-affirming sporting groups and facilities. Lawmakers in North Dakota recently proposed House Bill 1298, with the aim to prevent publicly-funded institutions, such as educational facilities, from allowing any “individual who was assigned the opposite sex at birth to participate on an athletic team…[which is designed] exclusively for females or exclusively for males.” Montana has also proposed similar regulations, alongside a bill which would prohibit gender-affirming health care for trans people under 21.
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