Even the playing field: a look at how House Bill 500 affects the transgender community – Argonaut

Idahos House of Representatives passed the Fairness in Womens Sports Act, HB 500, a bill which would ban transgender women from participating in womens high school and college sports in the state. The bills text conflicts with preexisting NCAA and Idaho High School Activities Association womens athletics policies and if passed will overrule those regulations.

According to the bills statement of purpose, (transgender women) will not be allowed to participate on girls or womens teams, as defined by their inherent differences that are physiological, chromosomal, and hormonal.

The bill conflicts with the existing bylaws related to hormonal treatment and screening of transgender student-athletes in the NCAA Handbook on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation.

Carson Poertner, a former NCAA athlete, UI student, and transgender man, said HB 500 disregards NCAA policy.

Next month, the NCAA will have had an inclusion policy specifically for transgender student-athletes in place for a decade. Its very frustrating, because there are already good, inclusive policies to have an even and fair playing field in place nationally, Poertner said. All of that information, research and evidence is being thrown away for somebodys personal feelings, essentially.

According to the NCAA, a transgender woman student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication must complete one calendar year of that treatment before competing on a womens team. HB 500 disputes this calendar year minimum policy, stating, The benefits that natural testosterone provides to (transgender women) athletes is not diminished through the use of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

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On Tuesday HB 500 was amended to say if a school wanted to check a players eligibility, they would not have to go through all three steps of the screening but instead just one.

The three ways are as follows: The health care provider may verify the students biological sex as part of a routine sports physical examination relying only on one (1) or more of the following: the students reproductive anatomy, genetic makeup or normal endogenously produced testosterone levels.

The bills amendment also removes all references to the NCAA.

One of the three steps of player eligibility screening outlined in the bill calls for a physicians statement regarding physical examinations of internal and external physical anatomy of athletes in question. Poertner said this step of the screening method is unfair and has the potential to traumatize student-athletes, especially those who do not feel comfortable with the bills proposed genital identification binaries.

Biological sex can be determined by chromosome makeup, hormones or genitalia. It could be a mix of all those three its not black and white. For example, we have a population who are intersex and dont fit into this binary, Poertner said. So, now youre going to other them, push them aside and traumatize them by making them get undressed in front of a physician, and tell them their body is not normal. That they are not allowed to be a kid, to play sports.

The Idaho High School Activities Associations (IHSAA) Transgender Student Participation guidelines mimic that of the NCAA in employing the same calendar year-minimum policy for hormone suppression treatment by transgender women prior to being eligible to participate in womens sports.

Greg Bailey, Moscow School District Superintendent, said he was on the IHSAA Board from 2009 to 2015. During that time the states current policy for transgender high school athletes was drafted. Bailey said the issues of participation in sports by transgender athletes have already been addressed by the IHSAA, and that he is confused as to why one legislator is trying to make an issue out of something that has never caused a problem in the state.

One of the things we are concerned about is how this will impact not only high schools, but colleges that are in the state of Idaho if we have a ruling that is opposite of NCAA, Bailey said. Legislators should consider more pertinent issues that are at hand than something like this, that appears to be just one legislators concern.

Julia Keleher, UI LGBTQA director, said the bill does not acknowledge the big picture when it comes to athletics and life for transgender people in general

Its this idea that trans girls are inherently advantaged in sports because they have male bodies physical bodies and (the bill) is looking at seeing people for their bodies and their genitals and not for their identities, Keleher said. The reality is that when we look at trans women and trans people in general, theyre more likely to experience discrimination, harassment, assaults, murder.

HB 500 was introduced by Rep. Barbara Erhardt (R-Idaho Falls) and passed through the House 52-17. The bill then moved to the Senate and is currently being amended in the State Affairs Committee.

Erhardt could not be reached for comment.

Joe St. Pierre, UI Athletics Communications Director, declined to comment regarding HB 500.

Alex Brizee contributed to this article.

Ellen Dennis can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu

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Even the playing field: a look at how House Bill 500 affects the transgender community - Argonaut