周三，俄克拉荷马州和亚利桑那州成为最新实施跨性别体育禁令的州。
俄克拉荷马州州长凯文·斯蒂特签署了一项法律，禁止变性妇女和女孩参加国家公立中小学和高等教育机构的女子运动队。
“说到运动和田径，女孩应该和女孩竞争。男孩应该和男孩竞争。让我们非常清楚:这就是这个法案所说的，”共和党州长周三在法案签署仪式上说，尽管该法案排除了跨性别女孩。
亚利桑那州州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)签署了一项法案，将禁止跨性别女孩在所有公立学校和任何与她们竞争的私立学校参加与她们的性别身份相符的运动。杜西还签署了一项法案，禁止对变性青年的性别确认关怀。
根据,“没有直接或一致的研究”表明跨性别者在体育方面比异性恋者更有优势运动医学杂志评论关于潜在优势的几项研究。
该法案的支持者不同意。
“这项立法只是为了确保那些献身于这项运动的女孩和年轻女性不会因为不公平的竞争而错过来之不易的机会，包括她们的头衔、排名和奖学金，”杜西在一份关于该法案的声明中说。
美国公民自由联盟俄克拉荷马州执行主任Tamya Cox-Touré抨击了该法案，称该州正在伤害一个小而脆弱的人口，“同时忽视了体育运动中性别平等的真正问题，涉及到资金，资源，薪酬平等等。”
“宣扬对跨性别运动员毫无根据的恐惧无助于解决那些真正的问题，”考克斯-图尔说在声明中继续说道。“最终，SB2违反了美国宪法和联邦民权法，使俄克拉荷马州面临失去联邦资金的风险，并伤害了跨性别青年，这一切都是为了解决一个并不存在的问题。”
几个主要的体育组织，包括NCAA、奥运会和美国国家体育联盟的管理机构，允许变性女性与同性女性竞争。
这疾病控制和预防中心发现跨性别青年经常报告在学术环境中感到孤立和被排斥。这种歧视增加了他们精神健康不佳、自杀、药物滥用、暴力和其他健康风险的风险。
根据年的研究，欢迎禁止校园欺凌和骚扰的校园环境与这些学生的积极成果有关美国公共卫生杂志。
“这项立法为俄克拉荷马州根本不存在的问题提供了一个解决方案，但它对跨性别和非双生子青年造成的伤害是非常真实的，”LGBTQ自杀意识组织特雷弗项目的高级研究员凯西·皮克说。
俄克拉荷马州名为“拯救女性运动法案”的法律将立即生效。
俄克拉荷马州和亚利桑那州加入了其他几个州的行列，禁止跨性别学生参加与他们的性别认同相关的运动。实施禁令的州包括阿拉巴马州、阿肯色州、佛罗里达州、爱荷华州、密西西比州、蒙大拿州、南达科他州、田纳西州、德克萨斯州、犹他州和西弗吉尼亚州。
就在斯蒂特签署法案的前几天，共和党人犹他州州长斯潘塞·考克斯否决了一项类似的法案并给州议员写了一封充满激情的反对信。共和党控制的立法机构后来投票推翻了他的否决。
他表示，只有四名跨性别学生在犹他州参加体育运动，只有一名运动员参加女子体育运动，他们没有不公平地占据主导地位。
道格·霍克/俄克拉荷马州/今日美国网
州长凯文·史迪特在蓝厅签署SB2——体育运动中拯救女性法案...
考克斯说，变性青年因歧视而面临的高比例的心理健康挑战影响了他的否决决定。
“四个孩子只是想找些朋友，感觉他们是某个事物的一部分。考克斯说:“每天有四个孩子试图度过难关。
他补充道，“很少有如此多的恐惧和愤怒指向如此少的人。我不明白他们在经历什么，也不明白他们为什么会有这种感觉。但我想让他们活下去。”
印第安纳州州长埃里克·霍尔科姆(Eric Holcomb)是一名共和党人，他也否决了一项跨性别体育法案，现在正面临立法机构推翻他的决定的尝试。
Oklahoma, Arizona sign transgender sports bans into law
Oklahoma and Arizona became the latest states to impose transgender sports bans Wednesday.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a law banningtransgender women and girlsfrom competing on women and girls sports teams in state public K-12 schools and higher education institutions.
"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," the Republican governor said Wednesday at the bill signing, despite the bill's exclusion of trans girls.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill that will ban trans girls from playing sports aligning with their gender identity in all public schools and any private schools that compete against them. Ducey also signed a bill that would bangender-affirming care for trans youth.
There has been "no direct or consistent research" that shows that trans people have an advantage over cisgender peers in athletics, according toa Sports Medicine journal reviewof several research studies on potential advantages.
Supporters of the bill disagree.
"This legislation simply ensures that the girls and young women who have dedicated themselves to their sport do not miss out on hard earned opportunities, including their titles, standings and scholarships due to unfair competition," Ducey said in a statement on the bill.
ACLU of Oklahoma Executive Director Tamya Cox-Touré slammed the bill, saying that the state was harming a small and vulnerable population "while overlooking the real issues with gender equality in sports when it comes to funding, resources, pay equity, and more."
"Promoting baseless fears about trans athletes does nothing to address those real problems," Cox-Tourécontinued in a statement."Ultimately, SB2 violates the United States Constitution and federal civil rights law, puts Oklahoma at risk of losing federal funding, and harms transgender youth, all to solve a problem that does not exist."
Several major athletic organizations, including NCAA, the Olympics and the governing bodies for U.S. national sports leagues, allow transgender women to compete against cisgender women.
TheCenters for Disease Control and Preventionfound that trans youth often report feeling isolated and excluded in academic environments. That discrimination puts them at increased risk for poor mental health, suicide, substance abuse, violence and other health risks.
Welcoming school environments that prohibit bullying and harassment in schools have been linked to positive outcomes for these students, according to research inThe American Journal of Public Health.
"This legislation offers a solution to a problem that simply does not exist in Oklahoma, but the harm it will cause transgender and nonbinary youth is very real," said Casey Pick, a senior fellow at the LGBTQ suicide awareness organization The Trevor Project.
The Oklahoma law, called the "Save Women's Sports Act," will go into effect immediately.
Oklahoma and Arizona joined several other states in banning trans students from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. Among those instituting bans are Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and West Virginia.
Just days before Stitt signed the bill, RepublicanUtah Gov. Spencer Cox vetoed a similar billand sent an impassioned letter against it to state legislators. The Republican-controlled legislature later voted to override his veto.
He stated that only four trans students are playing sports in Utah, with only one athlete in girls' sports, and they are not unfairly dominating.
Cox said the high rates of mental health challenges transgender youth face due to discrimination influenced his decision to veto.
"Four kids who are just trying to find some friends and feel like they are a part of something. Four kids trying to get through each day," Cox said.
He added, "Rarely has so much fear and anger been directed at so few. I don't understand what they are going through or why they feel the way they do. But I want them to live."
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, also vetoed a transgender sports bill and is now facing attempts from the legislature to override his decision.
