Michigan Republicans continue to press the Michigan High School Athletic Association to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order designed to prevent transgender girls from playing in girls sports.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association has said they will continue, for now, their policy of reviewing requests from trans athletes on a case-by-case basis, pending further legal guidance. An MHSAA spokesperson said there are no transgender girls currently playing girls sports.
Trump and Republicans have mounted a campaign to stop transgender girls from competing in girls sports, contending they should compete with boys in alignment with their biological sex.
The executive order, named “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” was signed last week and could mean a loss of federal funds for any school district in violation. MHSAA said it might violate the state’s civil rights law, which prohibits discrimination based on gender identity or expression.
Rep. Jason Woolford (R-Howell) on Tuesday introduced HB 4066 , which would require K-12 schools in Michigan to separate student athletes by biological sex.
“The executive order that President Trump signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day last week received an immense outpouring of support from women and girls of all ages, and the MHSAA’s defiance of this commonsense policy only continues to perpetuate the madness of this radical transgender ideology that endangers female athletes,” Woolford said in a statement. “From the White House to here in the Statehouse, Republicans are working to protect women and girls from the absurd cultural messaging that has promoted abdication and accommodation on this front.”
The bill would also prohibit any school investigations by the state government of those who chose to enforce the separation. The bill would also provide grounds for a lawsuit to any student who is harmed by the violation of this policy.
“Female athletes should not be subjected to biological males invading their private spaces, destroying the competitive integrity of their sports and even endangering their physical safety, whether that be through allowing men into their locker rooms or forcing women and girls to contend with much stronger, bigger and physical athletic opponents,” Woolford said in a statement. “With their flagrantly unlawful action, the MHSAA continues to insist upon disrespecting female athletes and putting them in dangerous environments. The State of Michigan must respond to this outrageous behavior. I am hopeful that my colleagues in the legislature will join me in working to protect our state’s women and girls.”
Geoff Kimmerly, spokesperson for MHSAA, said they are waiting for guidance on next steps. He noted there are no transgender girls playing in girls’ sports currently with no waivers requested for spring sports.
Transgender girls are allowed to play in a case-by-case basis by applying for a waiver.
“We do not track transgender boys because everyone’s allowed to play on boys teams,” Kimmerly said of biological girls playing on boy’s teams. “We currently do not have any transgender girls playing on a sports team. We don’t have any applications for waivers for spring sports. So, we’re in a spot right now where we know that we have the executive order, and we have the Elliott-Larsen Act.”
He said in the fall season, there were two transgender athletes. He also said Michigan has averaged about two a year for the past seven or eight years out of the more than 170,000 student athletes in the state.
“There’s not a lot for us to say at this point, because we’re waiting for clarity on conflict between the two,” Kimmerly said. “Again, we don’t have any athletes that are affected by this right now. We do not have any expected to be affected in the spring. So, we are just here, kind of in a holding pattern until we get more clarification.”
– By Anna Rossow
