A policy voted on in February to keep biological males out of girls sports in Virginia high schools could be ratified this week.
The Virginia High School League is set to host its first in-person meeting on Wednesday since its vote to bar transgender athletes from competing on female teams, and the major change to state policy could be finalized at the meeting.
“Students who were assigned male at birth or are identifying as transgender females may not participate on a girls sports team other than cheerleading (PM 54-6-1 (4),” VHSL policy, 28A – 8 -1, the Transgender Policy, reads.
The change was voted on during a special meeting following President Donald Trump’s Feb. 5 executive order to keep biological males out of women’s sports, with the aim of aligning Virginia policy with the order, according to a report.
“We’re not a league or an organization that wants to be in contempt of the law or not follow the law,” VHSL Executive Director Billy Haun said. “With a presidential executive order, we felt like we needed to do this.”
Haun said any transgender athlete currently participating on a girls’ team will cease to be able to do so once the change goes into effect.
No specific punishment has been outlined for violations of the change, the report noted, but Haun suggested that disciplinary action could be taken through ineligibility and forfeiture measures.
“When you’re talking about losing federal funding and those kinds of things, that’s pretty serious stuff,” Haun said.
Prior policy allowed transgender athletes to submit an appeal to the VHSL if they wished to participate on a team that did not align with their sex assigned at birth.
At least 30 appeals were received in the last four years, and 27 of them were approved, according to the report.
Transgender allies are demanding that the VHSL change its course on ratifying the change.
“For the VHSL to change what they’re doing, that has been working for over a decade … it’s disappointing, to say the least,” said Shannon McKay, executive director of He She Ze and We, a nonprofit organization supporting transgender and non-binary individuals.
“This scrutiny that happens, to have to prove who you are, that you’re trans enough, is what keeps most trans folks out of athletics anyway,” McKay added. “I just think people are making this enormous deal over a small amount of people.”
Advocates protecting girls sports disagree and claim that change is a major step forward.
“The inherent biological differences between boys and girls range from chromosomal and hormonal differences to physiological differences,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said.
“Allowing biological boys to compete in girls’ sports is unfair. The science is clear, and I am glad the Virginia High School League is working to protect the rights of our young Virginia female athletes,” he added.
The Family Foundation, a parental rights advocacy group, echoed Miyares’s sentiment.
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“Our schools and athletic organizations have a responsibility to protect the bodily privacy and safety of young girls, and to ensure they don’t have their chances to compete stolen by boys who already have their own athletic teams or clubs,” said Todd Gathje, vice president of governmental rights.
“VHSL’s decision to ratify these guidelines aligns with overwhelming public opinion with recent polls suggesting 75% support for this policy.”