{"id":3335,"date":"2022-03-31T12:35:09","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T12:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/linksus.net\/oklahoma-governor-signs-transgender-sports-ban-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2022-03-31T12:35:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T12:35:09","slug":"oklahoma-governor-signs-transgender-sports-ban-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/2022\/03\/31\/oklahoma-governor-signs-transgender-sports-ban-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Oklahoma governor signs transgender sports ban – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law Wednesday banning transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams, cementing the state as the the 13th nationwide to enact such a measure.\u00a0
As he signed the \u201cSave Women\u2019s Sports Act<\/a>,\u201d Stitt was surrounded by young girls, female athletes and other conservative lawmakers holding signs that read \u201cSave women’s sports.\u201d He said that enacting the measure \u201cis just common sense.\u201d
\u201cWhen it comes to sports and athletics: Girls should compete against girls. Boys should compete against boys,\u201d Stitt, a Republican, said. \u201dLet\u2019s be very clear \u2014 that\u2019s all this bill says.\u201d
\u201cWe are protecting women\u2019s sports. We\u2019re ensuring a level playing field for female athletes who work hard to train hard, who are committed to their team, who have dreams to be No. 1 in their sport, who deserve a fair competition,\u201d he continued. \u201cThe reality is, men are biologically different than women.\u201d
The governor\u2019s signing of the measure comes amid a nationwide culture war over LGBTQ, and particularly transgender, issues.
Between Jan. 1 and March 15, state lawmakers proposed a record 238 bills that would limit the rights of LGBTQ people \u2014 or more than three per day \u2014 with about half of them targeting transgender people specifically, according to an NBC News analysis<\/a> of data from the American Civil Liberties Union and the LGBTQ advocacy group Freedom for All Americans.
Just this week \u2014 and after an outcry from LGBTQ advocates, the White House and Hollywood \u2014 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed<\/a> a bill into law that prohibits \u201cclassroom instruction … on sexual orientation or gender identity\u201d in \u201ckindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.\u201d\u00a0
This year\u2019s historic tally quickly follows what some advocates had labeled the \u201cworst year in recent history for LGBTQ state legislative attacks,\u201d when 191 bills were proposed last year.
Measures that would block trans students from competing on school sports teams that align with their gender identity have been among the most successful of the anti-LGBTQ bills filed in recent years, with more than a dozen becoming law nationwide.\u00a0
This year, prior to Oklahoma, lawmakers in South Dakota<\/a>, Iowa<\/a> and Utah<\/a> enacted trans athlete bills. Arizona’s<\/a> governor signed a similar sports measure on Wednesday, shortly after Oklahoma’s bill was signed.
Not all efforts to enact sports bans have been successful.\u00a0
Last year, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican, vetoed a sports bill, citing \u201cno evidence\u201d of the danger trans athletes pose to female sports.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, vetoed<\/a> his state\u2019s version of the legislation this month, saying that it \u201cfalls short\u201d of providing a consistent statewide policy for what he called \u201cfairness in K-12 sports.\u201d However, Indiana legislators have enough votes to override his veto and enact the bill, though they have not yet moved to do so.
Proponents of trans sports bans, including Stitt, say that they are protecting fairness in women\u2019s sports, arguing that trans girls and women have inherent advantages over cisgender girls and women.
Critics say the measures are less about protecting women\u2019s sports and more about \u201csolving a problem that does not exist.\u201d
The Oklahoma measure is \u201cone of many bills we have seen attacking\u201d the state\u2019s trans and nonbinary communities, \u201cwhile overlooking the real issues with gender equality in sports when it comes to funding, resources, pay equity, and more,\u201d Tamya Cox-Tour\u00e9, executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cPromoting baseless fears about trans athletes does nothing to address those real problems.\u201d
\u201cTransgender people belong everywhere, but with the swipe of a pen and a public display, Governor Stitt has sent a clear message to Oklahoma\u2019s vulnerable transgender youth that they are not welcome or accepted in our State,\u201d Cox-Tour\u00e9 continued.
The debate over trans athletes has also been catapulted into the nation\u2019s culture wars following the success of the University of Pennsylvania transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
Thomas became the first trans athlete to win an NCAA championship this month, placing first in the 500-yard freestyle race at the Division I finals in Atlanta, after a successful season on the Penn women\u2019s swimming and diving team.\u00a0
Without mentioning her by name, Stitt referenced Thomas in his decision to sign the bill.
\u201cWe all saw the imagery with the Penn swimmer and we don\u2019t want that to happen to this young lady right here beside me when she grows up and gets into high school,\u201d he said, gesturing to one of the young girls surrounding him. \u201cWe\u2019re making that stand today in the state of Oklahoma.\u201d
The law took effect immediately upon Stitt\u2019s signing.\u00a0
However, it could face legal challenges. In July, a federal court temporarily prevented West Virginia\u2019s version of the law from taking effect after the ACLU filed a lawsuit<\/a> against it.
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ProfileSectionstvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC NewsOklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill into law Wednesday banning transgender girls and women from playing on female sports teams, cementing the state as the the 13th nationwide to enact such a measure.\u00a0As he signed the \u201cSave Women\u2019s Sports Act,\u201d Stitt was surrounded by young girls, female athletes and other […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3335"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3335\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/linksus2.linksus.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}