佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)周二签署了一项法案，禁止跨性别女运动员在公立学校的女子和女子运动队中比赛——LGBTQ倡导者在LGBTQ骄傲月的第一天谴责这一举措特别“不合理”。
被纳入一项广泛的教育法案的所谓《妇女体育公平法》规定，女子或女子球队“不得向男性学生开放。”它确实允许女运动员参加男子或男童队。该法案还包括一项条款，允许据称受影响的学生起诉违反该法案的学校。
该法律计划于7月1日生效，适用于公立中学和高中、公立大学和学院。
乔·雷德尔/盖蒂图像，文件
在这张2021年4月8日的档案照片中，佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯在迈阿密对媒体发表讲话。
根据人权运动，今年到目前为止，超过30个州已经引入或通过了对变性人运动员的限制。据LGBTQ倡导组织称，佛罗里达州是继阿肯色州、阿拉巴马州、密西西比州、蒙大拿州、田纳西州和西弗吉尼亚州之后第七个颁布此类立法的州。南达科他州州长克里斯蒂·诺姆也发布了类似的行政命令。
NCAA第三区男女同性恋、双性恋、变性者和双性人项目和NCAA第三区男女同性恋、双性恋、变性者和双性人工作组成员先前被谴责这些法律提案在4月份的一封公开信中公布。
支持者认为这样的法案是为了保护女性运动员免受不公平的生理优势。
德桑蒂斯在周二的一份声明中说:“作为两个女儿的父亲，我希望我的女儿们，以及佛罗里达州的每个女孩，都能在公平的竞争环境中竞争年轻女性在体育方面的机会。”“几十年来，妇女一直为在体育运动中获得平等机会而斗争，我们必须防止这些机会像其他州一样被侵蚀。这是常识。”
男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者权利倡议者警告说，这种法案向弱势变性青年并可能使各州面临经济后果。
人权联盟主席阿方索·大卫在一份声明中说:“德桑蒂斯州长和佛罗里达州的立法者正在基于一个错误的、歧视性的前提进行立法，这一前提将跨性别儿童的安全和福祉置于危险之中。”“所有佛罗里达人都将不得不面对这项反变性立法的后果——包括经济损失、昂贵的纳税人资助的法律诉讼以及名誉受损。”
人权联盟已经宣布打算就该法案起诉佛罗里达州。
佛罗里达平等组织的执行董事纳丁·史密斯在一份声明中说，该法案将“使佛罗里达对我们的社区更加危险，这不是别的原因，而是在一场由选举驱动的文化战争中的政治收益。”
男女同性恋、双性恋和变性者群体的倡导者也谴责了该法案的签署时间。山姆·布林顿，特雷弗项目倡导和政府事务副总裁，该项目是一个同性恋、双性恋、变性者和跨性别者自杀预防组织LGBTQ骄傲月第一天是“不合理的”
布林顿在一份声明中说:“这群年轻人迫切需要更多的支持，不要被当权者进一步边缘化和攻击。”
佛罗里达州第一位LGBTQ Latinx立法者、民主党州众议员卡洛斯·史密斯(Carlos Smith)表示，该法案“助长了危险的污名化，这种污名化推动了针对变性青年的暴力和欺凌的流行。”
他在一份声明中说:“如果共和党议员花一半的时间帮助佛罗里达人解决经济问题，而不是把跨性别儿童赶出学校体育活动，我们州的情况会好得多。”
《女性体育公平法案》的规定源于一项在州立法机构停滞不前的立法，但共和党领导人在4月下旬的会议最后几天通过了一项教育法案。周二颁布的法律不包括原法案中一些更具争议的内容，包括一项允许学校通过生殖器检查核实学生出生性别的条款。相反，根据通过的法律，学生可能需要提供一份出生证明，该证明是在他们出生时存档的。
华盛顿邮报通过盖蒂图像，文件
在这张2014年1月14日的档案照片中，一个女子大学篮球队在迈阿密的体育馆练习。
最初法案的提案国赞扬了周二签署的《妇女体育公平法案》。
共和党州参议员凯利·斯塔格尔(Kelli Stargel)在一份声明中说:“妇女体育公平法案保护女性运动员展示其力量、技能和运动能力的机会，并实现安全参与和竞争体育项目带来的长期利益。”
共和党众议员凯莉·塔克(Kaylee Tuck)在一份声明中说:“女子运动的安全性和完整性不应该成为辩论的议题，这项立法将确保两者都保持不变。”
佛罗里达州教育专员理查德·科克伦反驳了关于该法案具有歧视性的批评。
“这个问题是一个根本性的公平问题。承认性别差异与歧视相去甚远，”他说。"在教育领域尤其如此，在那里，主要的大学体育项目——以及随之而来的奖学金——仍然是按性别划分的."
Florida governor signs bill targeting transgender athletes on 1st day of Pride Month
FloridaGov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that would bar transgender female athletes from playing on girls' and women's sports teams at public schools -- a move that LGBTQ advocates decried as particularly "unconscionable" on the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month.
The so-called Fairness in Women's Sports Act, which was included in a broad education bill, stipulates that girls' or women's teams "may not be open to students of the male sex." It does allow female athletes to play on boys' or men's teams. The bill also includes a provision allowing an allegedly impacted student to sue a school that violates the act.
The law, scheduled to go into effect on July 1, applies to public secondary and high schools, public colleges and universities.
So far this year, over 30 states have introduced or passed restrictions on transgender athletes, according to the Human Rights Campaign. Florida is the seventh state -- following Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Montana, Tennessee and West Virginia -- to enact such legislation, according to the LGBTQ advocacy group. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has also issued similar executive orders.
The NCAA's Division III LGBTQ OneTeam Program and members of the NCAA's Division III LGBTQ Working Group havepreviously condemnedthese proposed laws in an open letter published in April.
Supporters argue such bills are meant to protect female athletes from an unfair physiological advantage.
"As a father of two daughters, I want my girls, and every girl in Florida, to compete on an even playing field for the opportunities available to young women in sports," DeSantis said in a statement Tuesday. "Women have fought for decades to have equal opportunities in athletics, and we have to prevent those opportunities from being eroded as is happening in other states. It's common sense."
LGBTQ advocates warn that such bills send a damaging message tovulnerable transgender youthand may open states up to economic consequences.
"Gov. DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are legislating based on a false, discriminatory premise that puts the safety and well-being of transgender children on the line," Human Rights Coalition President Alphonso David said in a statement. "All Floridians will have to face the consequences of this anti-transgender legislation -- including economic harm, expensive taxpayer-funded legal battles, and a tarnished reputation."
The Human Rights Coalition has already announced its intent to sue Florida over the bill.
Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, said in a statement that the bill will "make Florida more dangerous for our community, for no reason but political gain in an election-driven culture war."
LGBTQ advocates also decried the timing of the bill's signing. Sam Brinton, vice president of advocacy and government affairs for The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ suicide prevention organization, said signing the bill on thefirst day of LGBTQ Pride Monthwas "unconscionable."
"This group of young people desperately needs more support, not to be further marginalized and attacked by those in positions of power," Brinton said in a statement.
Democratic state Rep. Carlos Smith, Florida's first LGBTQ Latinx legislator, said the bill "contributes to the dangerous stigma that drives the epidemic of violence against and bullying of transgender youth."
"If GOP lawmakers would have spent half as much time helping Floridians struggling with economic issues as they spent pushing trans kids out of school sports, our state would be much better off," he said in a statement.
The provisions of the Fairness in Women's Sports Act stem from legislation that had stalled in the state legislature but which Republican leaders tacked on to an education bill that passed in the last days of the session in late April. The law enacted Tuesday does not include some of the more contentious elements of that original bill, including a provision that would have allowed schools to verify a student's birth gender via a genital inspection. Instead, under the passed law, students may need to provide a birth certificate that was filed around the time of their birth.
The sponsors of the original bill praised the signing of the Fairness in Women's Sports Act Tuesday.
"The Fairness in Women's Sports Act protects opportunities for female athletes to demonstrate their strength, skills, and athletic abilities and to realize the long-term benefits that result from safely participating and competing in sports programs," Republican state Sen. Kelli Stargel said in a statement.
"The safety and integrity of women's sports should not be up for debate and this legislation will ensure that both will remain intact," Republican state Rep. Kaylee Tuck said in a statement.
Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran pushed back against criticism that the bill is discriminatory.
"This issue is an issue of fundamental fairness. Recognizing gender differences is a far cry from discrimination," he said. "This is especially true in education where major college athletics -- and the scholarships that go with it -- still delineate by gender."
