It seems as though every week, Texas continues to pass shocking laws. This time the focus strays from abortion laws and moves on to the transgender community. Texas’s Republican governor, Greg Abbott, signed a bill that would ban transgender individuals from playing on high school sports teams based on their gender identity.
This means that transgender individuals wanting to play sports will have to play on the team matching their gender given at birth. There is no doubt that this bill perpetuates ignorance. The bill’s existence hurts the transgender community and should not exist.
House Bill 25 is set to go into effect on Jan. 18. The bill aims to tackle concerns that have been brought up regarding transgender girls playing on female sports teams. The argument entails that transgender girls are at an unfair advantage. The author of the bill, State Rep. Valoree Swanson, claims to want to “protect everything that women have gained in the last 50 years.”
None of these concerns are valid and only perpetuate hatred against the transgender community. Swanson’s remarks invalidate the identities of transgender girls. These individuals are women too and deserve to be treated with the same amount of respect as the rest of the female population.
The bill will target transgender individuals and out them out to the rest of their peers. It will be a constant reminder of the discrimination against who they are. Not to mention that it does not promote inclusivity and diversity within public schools and causes a greater divide among the student body.
This discriminatory law adds to the many obstacles transgender individuals face every day. Transgender people are faced with violence, discrimination, health issues, economical issues and more on a daily basis. Some of these health disparities include high suicide rates, high HIV infection rates and a lack of transitioning healthcare.
The discrimination against transgender individuals has caused high poverty and homelessness rates among the transgender population. The lives of transgender individuals are endangered because of these factors, and it has become a pressing issue in society. The American Medical Association declared “violence against transgender people an epidemic in 2019.”
They have gone through many struggles to be able to identify with the gender that is true to themselves. This bill will contradict all of that.
The argument of trying to preserve women’s rights falls short. If people truly cared about equality—all groups of people would be included in that mix. Our society seems to want to pick and choose who deserves rights and who does not. Everyone regardless of their features, characteristics, identities, race, etc. deserves to be treated with respect and given basic human rights.
If you are in need of urgent help, call the Trevor Project’s 24/7 toll-free support line at 866-488-7386, for LGBTQ mental health support. You can alsocall the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741.
