CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Virginia Republicans are now looking to prohibit public K-12 schools and higher education institutions from allowing transgender women to play on female athletic teams.
Wednesday morning, Governor Glenn Youngkin, Attorney General Jason Miyares, and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle Sears gathered alongside a group of female athletes to voice their support for HB 1809, introduced by Delegate Dolores Oates, a Republican who represents the Northern part of the Shenandoah Valley.
Right now, the Virginia High School League decides whether transgender athletes can play for the girls’ team at public high schools. If a transgender athlete wants to play for a gender-specific team that does not align with the sex marker on their birth certificate, they must submit an appeal.
The league says it has received 30 of these appeals in the past four years. It has granted 27 and denied 3.
Now, Republicans are hoping to end that appeals process altogether.
“This issue is about fairness,” Youngkin said. “This issue is about safety.”
The press conference came just one day after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass a similar bill.
Riley Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, has long fought against transgender participation in women’s sports.
“Women matter,” said Gaines, standing alongside Youngkin and Miyares. “I matter. These women standing behind me matter. Your daughters matter.”
But Shannon McKay, Executive Director of transgender advocacy group He She Ze and We, says transgender women matter, too, and a ban on their participation would be unacceptable.
“What parents want most is for their kids to feel accepted, right, and a sense of belonging in all their community spaces,” McKay said. “They wanted them to be treated with dignity and respect and I feel that this violates all of that.”
The House bill and its Senate companion are now up in the General Assembly, where Democrats still hold a slim majority.
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