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Republican bill would ban transgender girls from high school sports in California – Jobsmaa.com

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On the first day of the California Legislature's new session, Orange County Republican Assemblywoman Kate Sanchez introduced. A bill It would ban transgender high school students from competing on girls' sports teams.

“Young women who have spent years training, sacrificing and earning their place to compete at the highest level are now forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages,” said Sanchez of Rancho Santa Margarita. A video Posted on social media.

“It's not unreasonable,” he added. “It's sad and dangerous.”

Sanchez's proposed legislation, known as the Women's Sports Protection Act, is almost certain to fail in the Democratic-majority Legislature, with a record of including LGBTQ+ Californians.

But his introduction of it — specifically, as the first bill of the session — underscores the Republican Party's continued emphasis on transgender issues that continue to shape policy debates in Democratic-led California. They have put the government in the role A bulwark against President-elect Donald Trump, whose Opposition to trans rights was central to his campaign.

Sacramento Democrats are blasting Sanchez's bill as a political stunt, saying it's an unnecessary attack on transgender youth, who make up a small portion of California's school-age population.

Sports supporters cheer on speaker to save women

Dec. Supporters and opponents of the ban on transgender athletes attend the Riverside Unified School District board meeting on the 19th.

(Alan J. Shaben/Los Angeles Times)

Assemblyman Chris Ward, chairman of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in a statement that the all-Democrat caucus “will not stand by anyone who tries to use children as political pawns.”

“Attacking children is a failed 2024 issue,” Ward (D-San Diego) said. “We are surprised that the Legislature introduced his first bill targeting the very young, vulnerable children, rather than taking the opportunity to address key issues affecting Californians like affordability, housing and more.”

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law studies public policy on sexual orientation and gender identity. About 1.4% of American youth Around 300,000 individuals nationwide – ages 13-17 – identify as transgender. There are fewer people who play sports.

Polls show that Most Americans support They are deeply divided over issues involving protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, queer children, especially children who identify as transgender or non-binary.

In A nationwide poll A survey conducted last year by NORC at the University of Chicago for The Times found that two-thirds of adults who are transgender and women should never or rarely be allowed to play on women's sports teams.

“Wherever Sacramento Democrats stand on this issue, they need to face the facts,” Sanchez said in a statement to The Times, referring to public opinion on the issue.

On the other side of the political aisle, the state Senate. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) last week introduced the Transgender Privacy Act, which would automatically seal all court records related to a person's gender transition. or harassed.

“The incoming Trump administration and Republican congressional leadership have made it clear that targeting and eradicating trans people is one of their highest policy priorities, and California must have the backs of our trans community members,” Weiner said. A statement About his Senate Bill 59.

A coalition of LGBTQ+ supporters listens to speakers during a press conference

Dec. 19 At a Riverside Unified School District board meeting, supporters of LGBTQ+ students, demonstrators called on the district to “save girls' sports.”

(Alan J. Shaben/Los Angeles Times)

Sanchez's Assembly Bill 89 would require the California Interscholastic Federation, which regulates high school sports for public and private schools, to enact rules prohibiting “a student assigned male at birth from participating on a female interscholastic sports team.” It does not prevent transgender people from playing on boys' teams, nor does it specify how the CIF will verify a student's gender.

California Education Code plainly says Students should be allowed to participate in gender-segregated school programs and activities, including team sports, and should be allowed to use restrooms and locker rooms that correspond with their gender identity. The then-Govt. Jerry Brown signed those rights into law In 2013.

Sanchez's bill comes after several recent high-profile battles across California over trans women and girls playing high school and college sports.

In November, A Christian High School in Merced It pulled its girls volleyball team from a state playoff matchup against San Francisco, a transgender team.

This fall, the San Jose State women's volleyball team was embroiled in controversy as current and former players and an associate coach tried out. A trans player Delisted by filing a federal lawsuit. A The judge then ruled The player can compete.

In November, two female high school students sued the Riverside Unified School District. A transgender He unfairly kicked one of them off the varsity cross-country team. The Federal case When women protested the status quo – wearing T-shirts that read “Save Women's Sports” and chanting, “It's common sense. XX [does not equal] XY” — school officials compared it to wearing a swastika in front of a Jewish student.

The Claims of the case The district's policies unfairly restrict women's freedom of expression and deny fair and equal access to athletic opportunities.

A crowd of people standing with folded hands.

Republican Legislators Bill Esseili, front left, and Leticia Castillo, front right, call on the Riverside Unified School District superintendent to resign over the issue of transgender athletes competing in girls' high school sports at a board meeting last month.

(Alan J. Shaben/Los Angeles Times)

Bill Escaili and Leticia Castillo, two Republicans from the Inland Empire, called for the county superintendent's resignation over his handling of the issue.

In 2023, Esseille, Sánchez's district border, co-sponsored. A bill School staff must notify parents if their child identifies as transgender at school. Critics argued the bill would endanger trans children while violating students' privacy protections under California law. The bill died in committeeBut similar policies have sprouted among school boards in conservative parts of the state, showing how a Republican idea in the state Capitol can still spark debate on an issue.

In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom The Assembly Bill was signed into law in 1955. It prohibits schools from requiring teachers to notify families of students' gender identity changes.

Daisy Gardner, director of outreach for Our Schools USA, a nonprofit that supported AB 1955, said Sanchez's bill and Republicans' focus on transgender athletes is “a very powerful unifying tool from the far right.”

The parent of an LGBTQ+ student, who said she was speaking for herself and not on behalf of Our Schools USA, called Gardner Sanchez's bill “a media stunt designed to stoke fear and hatred of trans people so the right can flip California red in 2026, and the deaths are replacement lives.”

Gardner has been in contact with the parents of two transgender high school athletes in the Riverside Unified School District amid recent controversy and read a statement on behalf of one of the girl's families. Strict school management meeting Last month.

“They're in pure hell,” she said of the parents. “They don't know how to protect their children.”

Matt Rexrode, a longtime California political consultant, said urban Democrats may be scratching their heads over Sanchez introducing this long-shot bill on such a hot-button issue, which makes sense for his suburban district, which is “one of the most conservative parts of California.”

“It's a good political issue for some parts of California,” Rexrode said. “Clearly, Scott Weiner is not going to introduce this bill or vote for it, but not all of his bills will pass.”

Sanchez, he said, “represents the views of his constituents.”

At least one of his constituents, angered by the law protecting women's sports, called Sanchez's office and told an employee about details such as how the child's gender would be verified.

Former Democrat Michele McNutt, who changed her party registration to nonpartisan, said she was not satisfied with the staff's responses and called the bill “ineffective.”

“If that fails, they can frame it as 'California hates parents,'” said McNutt, whose two teenage daughters are student athletes in the Capistrano Unified School District. “I think theater is the main thing, it's not really about protecting women's sports.”

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