House Bill 183, to protect Alaska’s girl athletes from having transgenders take over their teams and competitions, is the subject of a public hearing on Monday at 8 am in the Alaska House Education Committee.
Last week, the committee heard from NCAA champion swimmer Riley Gaines and others in the athletic realm about the need to protect girls from boys who decide they’d rather compete in the girls’ divisions.
Watch Friday’s hearing at this link.
On Monday, the committee will hear from the ACLU-Alaska, which has put out an action alert for its supporters to call in and oppose the bill, which the group claims is anti-transgender.
House Bill 183 is at this link.
The bill says it’s the intent of the Legislature that maintaining fairness in athletic opportunities for women is an important state interest; requiring the designation of separate sex-specific athletic teams or sports is necessary to maintain fairness in athletic opportunities for women; significant biological and physiological differences between males and females, including greater strength, speed, and endurance capabilities among males on average, provide a competitive advantage to male athletes in sports; and having separate sex-specific teams furthers efforts to promote sex equality and that discrimination against women and girls in sports is counter to that effort.
In order to preserve an even playing field in school athletic programs and maintain opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their strength, skills, and athletic abilities, and to provide female athletes with opportunities to obtain recognition and accolades, college scholarships, and the numerous other long-term benefits that result from participating and competing in athletic endeavors, state Statute would be amended to read that schools whose students or teams compete in athletics must designate teams for male and for female, or coeducational/mixed team or sport. The team members would be based on biological sex listed on their birth certificates.
“Girls who participate in sports reap huge benefits for a lifetime. They gain confidence, good habits, strong bodies, and bones, and have a lower chance of osteoporosis, breast cancer, and depression,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Jamie Allard. “They have a more positive body image and higher levels of self- esteem. They grow into strong women who are leaders and role models in our communities. They carry the lessons learned far beyond the playing field. And thanks to Title IX, their right to equal opportunities in sports and education is federally protected.”
Letters in support and opposed to the bill have been received by the committee.
Sarah King Hnilica wrote from Fairbanks that
I am writing to you today to show that “I, as well as others in the community, are strongly against HB 183. I feel like this is a step backwards for all human rights regardless of how someone might identify. HB 183 violates students privacy as it sounds like it would require educators and coaches to decide and police whether a student is trans or not. That is absolutely not acceptable and violates medical rights of the student. I am very disappointed in our legislature for even considering such a harmful bill as this. Students have the right to play sports. Please consider how detrimental this bill would be to the emotional and social well being of students.”
Irene Quednow of Anchorage wrote another perspective: “Even with a sex change surgery and hormone therapy there are physical aspects like bone density and greater physical strength that will not change in a transgender male, putting the person at a great advantage in competition with women that is simply unfair.”
Quednow noted that last year Alaska celebrated Lydia Jacoby’s gold medal in the Olympics.
“One of our own Alaskan incredible women athletes. That would most likely never have happened if a transgender male would have competed in the same swimming competition as Lydia,” Quednow wrote. “The argument is being made that it will gravely affect the self esteem of the transgender person if they are not allowed to compete in women’s sports. What about the self esteem of the women’s athletes? Why would they put all the hard work in to compete when their opponent in the competition has such a huge and unfair advantage? That is a huge blow to their self esteem. By allowing transgender males to compete in women’s sports you are telling all women that their hard work and accomplishments mean nothing and one person’s self esteem is more important than another person’s self esteem. And that is never ok.”
Read some of the written testimony here.
