Transgender girls from Alaska are prohibited from participating in girls’ sports teams.
The Alaska School Activities Association’s board Alaska School Activities Association -who oversees school sports within the state was able to vote 5-3 Monday night to approve the new rules regarding transgender girls.
The law was enacted from the Alaska state school board which approved on August to demand that ASAA establish a sports division that is restricted to students born female. That excludes transgender girls.
Nearly half U.S. States have a restriction on the participation in sports that transgender youths. 23 states have imposed restrictions on transgender students under the law, according to the Movement Advancement Project, a non-profit with a stated goal of the promotion of inclusivity and equity.
Some states, such as Alaska has acted via regulation, rather than through legislation.
The school board’s members are appointed by Governor. Mike Dunleavy, and the new policy is just one of many that the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy has suggested to restrict the rights of transgender students.
A bill that was filed by the Administration in conjunction with an amendment to the Alaska Legislature would require students to use bathrooms that correspond to the gender they were assigned at birth. Additionally, it would have mandated schools to notify parents when the child wishes to use another name or preferential pronoun.
These suggestions have since been updated and are yet to be approved by in the Legislature regardless of shape or form.
The new rule of ASAA takes effect 30 days following the board’s decision.
In the new rules, transgender girls are able to participate on a team that is coed or on a boys ‘ team in the event that the school has teams categorized by gender.
The new ASAA policy is likely to provoke legal challenges from civil rights groups, and could lead Alaska’s system of school sports to fall apart.
A number of schools which include Anchorage which is Alaska’s largest school district, have enacted anti-discrimination rules which are in conflict with ASAA’s latest policy, and schools across Alaska will be charged with resolving the conflict.
The story was originally published in Alaska Beacon and is republished here with permission.
