The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly is deciding whether to back a proposed rule to ban trans girls from women's high school sports teams, after that rule advanced at a statewide school board meeting in Soldotna last month.
At that meeting, the board pushed forward a resolution that would only allow girls assigned female at birth to compete in a girls sports division, barring transgender girls from participating. It would also create a new division for students that “identify with either sex or gender,” and would allow for an appeal process. And now, the proposed rule is open to public comment through July 26, when the state board could vote on whether to adopt the rule.
Tomorrow, the borough assembly will decide whether it wants to show formal support for that rule. The resolution’s co-sponsor, Richard Derkevorkian, writes that the intention of the resolution is to, “preserve a fair playing field for all competitors while allowing for open opportunities for competitors.” Tyson Cox is the bill’s other sponsor.
The proposed rule echoes more than a dozen others that have been created around the country, as states move to ban trans girls from high school teams.
At the state school board meeting in June, Alaska school board member Bob Griffin supported putting the resolution out for public comment.
“I think we address this before it becomes a problem because information from other places across the United States indicates that it has been a problem in other places, and that it’s likely to occur here too.”
The resolution also received support from members of the Soldotna High School women’s wrestling team, and several community members.
But opponents of the rule say it’s an affront to trans rights, and creates more barriers for an already-marginalized community. A non-voting student representative to the board, Felix Myers, decried the resolution at the Soldotna meeting, and pointed out that there has only been one trans female student athlete in Alaska.
“I don’t think this should move to public comment, because I don’t think this should be entertained,” Myers said.
The Alaska Beacon reported that legislative attorneys say the resolution is likely to be challenged in court. The assembly will consider its supporting resolution tomorrow night at 6 p.m., which would be submitted as public comment to the state board if passed.
