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Arkansas is the latest state to craft legislation to protect female athletes in high school and college from competing against biological men who describe themselves as transgender women.
The announcement follows President Joe Biden’s executive order on Jan. 20 that expanding protections for women under the federal statute Title IX prohibiting discrimination against women because of their biological sex at all schools that receive federal funding would now include men who want to live as women.
“Children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room or school sports,” Biden’s order states.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge announced earlier this week the proposed legislation.
Local television station KATV reported on the development:
Rutledge said at a news conference Monday that the order hurts female athletes. The drafted legislation, known as the Gender Integrity Reinforcement Legislation For Sports Act, or GIRLS Act, would make it illegal for student-athletes who are identified as male on their birth certificate to play on women’s teams.
A draft of the proposed bill cites chromosomal, hormonal and physiological differences between male and female sexes. If passed, the bill would apply to K-12 schools in Arkansas. It would allow the attorney general to sue any school that violates the bill and ban them from receiving funds from a public source for one year.
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