There are new laws in more than a dozen states — including West Virginia — that ban transgender girls and women from competing on girls and womens teams. Transgender athletes say they want to play a sport they love. Some who support the new bans, say the laws are not anti-trans. Instead, they say the goal is to protect girls and women from competing against the biological advantages they believe transgender girls and women have.
More than a dozen states have new laws banning transgender girls and women from competing on girl’s and women’s sports teams. Recently, three states have limited medical care or treatment that supports gender affirming therapy.
On this episode of Us & Them, the battle over gender and sports. We’ll hear from transgender athletes who say they want to be who they truly are as they compete on the playing field.
We’ll hear West Virginia State Sen. Patricia Rucker who says the new laws are not anti-trans, but rather designed to protect girls and women from unfair competition playing against transgender athletes.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked West Virginia’s transgender sports ban but at least one national organization says it wants to extend the ban to any team that receives federal funding.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council, The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond.