Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill Thursday prohibiting transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports, making the state the first this year to institute a transgender ban.
The law likely will hit a legal challenge, but Mississippi won’t be fighting alone. At least 20 states are considering a crackdown on the LGBT push into girls’ and women’s sports.
Liberal advocacy groups called the law “anti-trans” and accused Mississippi’s Republican governor of discriminating against transgender children.
“Bullying transgender kids is no way to govern the state out of the crises they face,” said Alphonso David, president of the gay-rights group Human Rights Campaign. “Like previous iterations of the same anti-equality fight, this law is bound to face scrutiny, legal challenges and ultimately hurt the state’s reputation. Transgender kids deserve better and so does Mississippi.”
Mr. Reeves, who has three daughters who play sports, said on Twitter last week that the new law would “protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities.”
“It’s crazy we have to address it, but the Biden [executive order] forced the issue,” he said. “Adults? That’s on them. But the push for kids to adopt transgenderism is just wrong.”
Idaho last year enacted a similar law that was blocked by a federal judge.
Judge David Nye, a Trump appointee, ruled in favor of the American Civil Liberties Union and blocked the Idaho law because it discriminated against transgender people.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has signaled she plans to sign a bill banning transgender individuals from competing in women’s athletics.
A poll published this week found a majority of voters support banning transgender people from competing in women’s sports.
The Politico and Morning Consult poll issued Wednesday showed 53% of all voters support the transgender ban, while 32% oppose it.
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