Idaho Laws Went Into Effect Last Week.

Sadly these laws that the Republican lawmakers passed are discriminatory, repressive, and oppressive and are meant to force us back into the closet.

New Idaho Laws Target Transgender Residents

NPR

By James Dawson

July 4, 2020

Two new laws went into effect in Idaho this week that target transgender residents. The enactment comes on the heels of a major U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, which greatly expanded LGBTQ rights.

One of the laws bans transgender people from changing the sex on their birth certificates while the other bars transgender girls and women from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.

"We are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist," said Chris Mosier, the first transgender person to qualify for an Olympic trial. "We are not seeing widespread domination by transgender women and girls."

Earlier this year, as the bills came before Idaho's legislature, protesters rallied outside the state Capitol in Boise in an effort to uphold transgender rights. Mosier was at that rally in March, urging Idaho lawmakers to reject the bills.

First the birth certificate law… In the early ’60s, a number of states begin to pass laws allowing the gender marker on birth certificates to be changed

By 1965 ten states many of the them were Republican states, passed laws to allow changes to birth certificates because they didn’t want transsexual women on the welfare rolls–they could marry and be supported by their husbands. States like Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, and Louisiana allow birth certificates to be changed after Gender Confirming Surgery (GCS). But sadly many of the Republican states are giving the laws a second look in light of the current bigotry being spread by the Republican Party.

Controversial transgender laws take effect in Idaho

Magic Valley

By Ryan Blake

July 1, 2020

TWIN FALLS — Idaho is now the first state with an active law banning transgender women and girls from participating in female sports.

The law went into effect Wednesday along with another law that prevents Idahoans from changing the gender marker on their birth certificate to reflect their preferred sex.

Both new laws received strong Republican support during the 2020 legislative session from the state’s GOP-dominated House and Senate, and Gov. Brad Little signed-off on them in March. The laws face separate legal challenges in federal court.

And get a load of what they named the bill…

The transgender athletics ban, dubbed the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act,” is the first in the nation of its kind.

It is anything but the “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Legal Voice are challenging the ban in federal court. Their lawsuit is filed on behalf of Lindsay Hecox, a transgender woman and student at Boise State University who plans to run cross country this year. The groups argue the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

“Instead of punishing them, Idaho should be celebrating the LGBTQ community for their contributions to the state,” ACLU of Idaho executive director Leo Morales said in a statement. “It should not have to take a court decision to force the state of Idaho to uphold the rights for trans female athletes to participate in sports.”

The What does the NCAA have to say about trans athletes?

NCAA Inclusion of Transgender Student-Athletes

As a core value, the NCAA believes in and is committed to diversity, inclusion and gender equity among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators. We seek to establish and maintain an inclusive culture that fosters equitable participation for student-athletes and career opportunities for coaches and administrators from diverse backgrounds. Diversity and inclusion improve the learning environment for all student-athletes and enhance excellence within the Association.

[…]

NCAA Policy on Transgender Student-Athlete Participation

The following policies clarify participation of transgender student-athletes undergoing hormonal treatment for gender transition:

1. A trans male (FTM) student-athlete who has received a medical exception for treatment with testosterone for diagnosed Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for purposes of NCAA competition may compete on a men’s team, but is no longer eligible to compete on a women’s team without changing that team status to a mixed team.

2. A trans female (MTF) student-athlete being treated with testosterone suppression medication for Gender Identity Disorder or gender dysphoria and/or Transsexualism, for the purposes of NCAA competition may continue to compete on a men’s team but may not compete on a women’s team without changing it to a mixed team status until completing one calendar year of testosterone suppression treatment.

Additional considerations

The student’s responsibilities

1. In order to avoid challenges to a transgender student’s participation during a sport season, a student athlete who has completed, plans to initiate, or is in the process of taking hormones as part of a gender transition should submit the request to participate on a sports team in writing to the director of athletics upon matriculation or when the decision to undergo hormonal treatment is made.

2. The request should include a letter from the student’s physician documenting the student-athlete’s intention to transition or the student’s transition status if the process has already been initiated. This letter should identify the prescribed hormonal treatment for the student’s gender transition and documentation of the student’s testosterone levels, if relevant.

The school’s responsibilities

1. The director of athletics should meet with the student to review eligibility requirements and procedure for approval of transgender participation.

2. If hormone treatment is involved in the student-athlete’s transition, the director of athletics should notify the NCAA of the student’s request to participate with a medical exception request.

3. To assist in educating and in development of institutional policy and practice, a Transgender Participation Committee should be established. Members of the committee should represent a cross section of the institutional staff with student well-being interests, and include representation from the following departments: office of general counsel, health and counseling, faculty/academic affairs, and athletics.

4. All discussions among involved parties and required written supporting documentation should be kept confidential, unless the student-athlete makes a specific request otherwise.

All information about an individual student’s transgender identity and medical information, including physician’s information provided pursuant to this policy, shall be maintained confidentially.

So under the NCAA policy a student who identifies as trans women as long as she has been on spiro and hormones for at least a year can play in college sports.

And the Athletic Director at Northwestern High School, in Kokomo, Indiana, Mike Blackburn, wrote this about High School sports… it is something to keep in mind.

The purpose of a high school athletic program is not to provide Division 1 college scholarships, develop athletes to produce a college national championship, to provide candidates for professional sports, or to prepare gifted athletes for Olympic competition. All of these high levels of play are tremendous accomplishments for a few; however, they are not our goal at the high school level.

High school sports should be a continuation of the classroom so that such lifetime values as citizenship, sportsmanship, teamwork, and hard work are taught and reinforced. For some parents, the reason for their sons or daughters to be involved in athletics stems from their assumption that athletics is a means to an end with the goal of a scholarship being the main focus.

Scholarships are not why we offer athletic opportunities for our young athletes. Almost seven million student-athletes competed nationally in high school sports according to the 2003-04 NFHS survey. While 100,000 athletic scholarships are given annually by colleges in the United States, 98% of the young people who participate in high school sports will not earn one of those scholarships.