Texas school districts ban trans athletes from competing

Transgender students in Texas just received a huge slap in the face, when the school district superintendents and athletic directors voted 409-25 in favor of using birth certificates to determine student athletes’ gender, according to results obtained by the Observer through a request under the Texas Public Information Act.

What that means is that trans students who want to participate in school sports alongside their cisgendered classmates are barred from stepping on the field.

The legislative council of the University Interscholastic League (UIL), the governing body for Texas high school sports, recommended the amendment in October, and district representatives’ ballots were due this month. With the overwhelming majority voting in favor of the bill, the new regulations will take effect in August.

But even with the loss, queer advocates aren’t backing down from the issue. Advocates claim that the UIL is part of the University of Texas at Austin, and its constitution prohibits the legislative council or member districts from passing amendments that conflict with UT policy, which bans discrimination based on gender identity.

Both the council and the districts “had a duty to reject the amendment,” Paul Castillo, a Dallas staff attorney for the LGBT civil rights group Lambda Legal, told the Texas Observer.

Among those who voted in favor of the UIL amendment were representatives from Austin and Dallas school districts, which both have local policies prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.

Hey Texas, maybe you should take a few notes from he NCAA and the International Olympic Committee,  both of which are altering their policies to be more accepting of trans athletes.