On the first day of the new California legislative session, Rep. Kate Sanchez, an Orange County Republican, introduced a bill that would ban transgender high school students from competing on girls’ sports teams.
“Young women who have spent years training, sacrificing, and gaining the status to compete at the highest level are now being denied… “They are forced to compete with individuals who have a biological advantage that they cannot.”
“It’s not just unfair,” she added. “It’s disappointing and dangerous.”
Sanchez’s proposed bill, called the Women’s Sports Protection Act, is almost certain to fail in the Democratic supermajority-controlled Legislature, which has aggressively promoted inclusion for LGBTQ+ Californians.
But her introduction of the bill, especially as the first bill of this Congress, underscores Republicans’ consistent emphasis on California, where Democratic leaders have made the state a bulwark against President-elect Donald Trump. In the state, this issue continues to shape policy debates. , opposition to transgender rights was central to his campaign.
Sacramento Democrats denounced Sanchez’s bill as a political stunt and an unnecessary attack on transgender youth, who make up a small portion of California’s school-age population.
Supporters and opponents of banning transgender athletes from girls’ sports attended a Dec. 19 Riverside Unified School District board meeting.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
Rep. Chris Ward, chairman of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus, said in a statement that his all-Democratic caucus “will not stand by and watch those who seek to use children as political pawns.” Ta.
“Attacking children is a failed 2024 problem,” said Ward (D-San Diego). “Lawmakers have introduced a first-of-its-kind bill that targets a very small number of vulnerable children without taking the opportunity to address important issues like affordability and housing that are impacting Californians.” We are surprised that we did.”
The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, which studies public policy regarding sexual orientation and gender identity, estimates that about 1.4% of American teens between the ages of 13 and 17 (about 300,000 nationwide) identify as trans. It is presumed that they identify with their gender. I play sports less.
Polls show that most Americans support protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination, but opinions are sharply divided on issues concerning queer children, especially those who identify as transgender or non-binary. There is.
A national poll conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago for the Times last year found that nearly two-thirds of adult respondents said transgender girls and women should never be allowed to participate on women’s sports teams. They answered that they do not, or that they are only able to participate very rarely.
“Regardless of where Sacramento Democrats stand on this issue, we need to face the facts,” Sanchez said in a statement to the Times, pointing to public opinion on the issue.
On the other side of the political aisle, state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) introduced the Transgender Privacy Act last week. This would automatically seal all court records related to gender reassignment, protecting them from disclosure. or have been harassed.
“The incoming Trump administration and Republican Congressional leadership have made it clear that targeting and excluding transgender people is one of their top policy priorities, and California is committed to supporting members of the trans community. We need it,” Wiener said in a statement regarding Senate Bill 59.
Advocates for LGBTQ+ students attend the Riverside Unified School District board meeting on Dec. 19. Protesters called on the school district to “save girls’ sports.”
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
Sanchez’s Assembly Bill 89 would impose a rule on the California Interscholastic Federation, which regulates high school sports in public and private schools, that would prohibit “students assigned male at birth from participating in women’s interscholastic sports teams.” It requires the establishment of It does not prohibit transgender boys from playing on boys’ teams or specify how CIF will confirm a student’s gender.
California education law requires students to be allowed to participate in single-sex school programs and activities (including team sports) and to use restrooms and locker rooms according to their gender identity. It is clearly stated that it must be done. Then-Governor Jerry Brown signed these rights into law in 2013.
Sanchez’s bill comes after several recent high-profile battles across California over transgender girls and women participating in high school and college sports.
In November, Christian High School in Merced withdrew its girls’ volleyball team from a state playoff game against a San Francisco team that had a transgender player.
This fall, the San Jose State women’s volleyball team was embroiled in controversy after current and former players and an associate coach filed a federal lawsuit seeking to have transgender players removed from the roster. The judge then ruled that the athlete could compete.
In November, two high school girls sued the Riverside Unified School District, alleging that the transgender girl unfairly expelled one of them from the varsity cross country team. The federal lawsuit also claims the girls protested the situation by wearing T-shirts that read “Save Girls Sports” and “It’s Common Sense.” XX [does not equal] XY” – School officials likened it to wearing a swastika in front of Jewish students.
The lawsuit alleges that the school district’s policies unfairly restrict the girls’ freedom of expression and deny them fair and equal access to athletic opportunities.
Republican Assemblymembers Bill Esseri (front row, left) and Leticia Castillo (front row, right) are speaking out against Riverside Unified School District’s superintendent over the board’s response to the issue of transgender athletes competing in girls’ high school sports at last month’s board meeting. demanded his resignation.
(Allen J. Scherben/Los Angeles Times)
Two Republicans from the Inland Empire, Bill Ezeiri and Leticia Castillo, called for the district’s superintendent to resign over his handling of the issue.
In 2023, Essayri, whose district borders Sanchez, co-sponsored a bill that would require school officials to notify parents if their child is found to be transgender at school. Critics argued that the bill violates student privacy protections under California law while excluding and potentially endangering transgender children. Although the bill died in committee, similar policies are sprouting up on school boards in conservative parts of the state, demonstrating that Republican ideas suppressed at the state Capitol can still drive discussion of the issue. It shows.
In July, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1955, which prohibits schools from requiring teachers to notify families of students’ changes in gender identity.
Daisy Gardner, outreach director for Our Schools USA, a nonprofit organization supporting AB 1955, said Sanchez’s bill and the Republican focus on transgender athletes are “a very powerful organizing tool by the far right.” He said there is.
Gardner, a parent of an LGBTQ+ student who said he was speaking on his own behalf and not on behalf of Our Schools USA, called Sanchez’s bill “a way for the far right to turn California into a red light. “This is a media stunt aimed at inciting fear and hatred against transgender people.” In 2026, the victim is transgender. ”
Gardner has been in contact with the parents of two transgender high school athletes in the Riverside Unified School District amid recent controversy, and spoke on behalf of one of the girls’ families during a tumultuous school board meeting last month. was read aloud.
“They’re just going through hell,” she said of her parents. “They don’t know how to protect their children.”
Matt Rexrode, a longtime political consultant in California, said urban Democrats were worried that Sanchez would introduce this ill-conceived bill on such a high-profile issue. “It makes sense for her suburban district, which is one of the most conservative areas,” he said. region of california. ”
“This is a good political issue for certain parts of California,” Rexrode said. “Obviously, Scott Wiener is not going to introduce or vote for this bill, but not all of his bills will pass either.”
“I represent the views of my constituents,” Sanchez said.
But at least one of her constituents was so upset about the Girls’ Sports Protection Act that she called Sanchez’s office and grilled staff about details such as how a child’s gender would be confirmed. did.
Michelle McNutt, a former Democrat who just changed her political party registration to nonpartisan, said she was not satisfied with staff’s response and called the bill “executive.”
“If that fails, it could be framed as, ‘California hates its parents,'” said McNutt, whose two teenage daughters are student-athletes in the Capistrano Unified School District. “I think it’s the theater that’s important, but it’s really not about protecting women’s sports.”
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