Oklahoma joins three other GOP-led states that have enacted similar bans this year. In pushing such measures, conservatives have argued that transgender women and girls have physical advantages over cisgender women and girls in sports, though a 2017 report found “no direct or consistent research” on any such advantage.
“When it comes to sports and athletics, girls should compete against girls. Boys should compete against boys. And let’s be very clear: that’s all this bill says,” Stitt said at a signing ceremony. The bill, however, will now prohibit some girls in the state from competing against other girls.
“We all saw the imagery with the Penn swimmer, and we don’t want that to happen to this young lady right here beside me when she grows up and gets into high school, and we’re making that stand today in the state of Oklahoma,” he said.
Opponents of Oklahoma’s law immediately condemned Stitt. The American Civil Liberties Union of Oklahoma said he “has sent a clear message to Oklahoma’s vulnerable transgender youth that they are not welcome or accepted in our state.”
Law takes effect immediately
Oklahoma’s Republican-controlled legislature gave final passage to SB 2, dubbed the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” last week and the law took effect immediately following the governor’s approval.
The legislation requires sports teams at Oklahoma’s public schools and colleges, public charter schools and private schools whose teams compete against those at public schools to designate athletic teams as being either co-ed or based on “biological sex.”
“Athletic teams designated for ‘females’, ‘women’ or ‘girls’ shall not be open to students of the male sex,” the law states. The legislation requires parents of students 18 and under to sign an affidavit “acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth.” Students 18 and older need to sign the affidavit themselves.
While sex is a category that refers broadly to physiology, a person’s gender is an innate sense of identity. The factors that go into determining the sex listed on a birth certificate may include anatomy, genetics and hormones, and there is broad natural variation in each of these categories. For this reason, critics have said the language of “biological sex,” as used in this legislation, is overly simplistic and misleading.
The new law also allows a “student who is deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation” of the ban to bring a civil suit against the school.
A political flashpoint
The NCAA has come out in opposition to such bans, saying last April that it’s closely monitoring them to make sure NCAA championships can be held “in ways that are welcoming and respectful of all participants.”
The debate over the inclusion of transgender athletes, particularly women and girls, has become a political flashpoint, especially among conservatives.
Last year, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia enacted similar sports bans, infuriating LGBTQ advocates, who argue conservatives are creating an issue where there isn’t one.
This story has been updated with additional details and background information.
