Republican Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, attacked the American trans community in a speech on Wednesday 10 February, saying it is unfair on cisgender women to allow trans athletes to compete alongside them. According to AP News, Lee said trans-inclusion in athletics will “destroy women’s sports.” He continued: “It will ruin the opportunity for girls to earn scholarships. It will put a glass ceiling back over women that hasn’t been there in some time. I think it’s bad for women and for women’s sports.”
Hope Jackson, the Human Rights Campaign’s deputy national campaign director, criticised Lee’s attack on trans athletes, saying he has “no interest in equity, choosing instead to fearmonger and demonise children in his state.” Jackson continued: “Governor Lee has no idea what he’s talking about. We’d love to engage with him if he can actually name a time when a transgender athlete in Tennessee ‘stole’ a scholarship from a cisgender athlete.”
Lee’s comments come after lawmakers in Tennessee advanced a bill which would ban trans participation in school sports. One of the main sponsors of the bill, state representative Scott Cepick, said the regulations will ‘protect women in sports’, suggesting trans women have an unfair advantage. It still requires more hearings before it is passed onto Lee, but so far it has received strong support from state Republicans. Tennessee is one of 20 states which is currently in the process of debating anti-trans regulations, the majority of which target young trans athletes.
