Welcome to our weekly column in which a topic of interest, piece of news, relevant opinion, or general request for feedback is presented. We’ll offer the topic du jour and accompanying question, and you have the opportunity to respond with your thoughts.
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This week’s Feedback Friday topic is:
Gender Fairness in Sports or Not?
This week, the “Save Women’s Sports Act” was heard in the Maryland General Assembly. It’s a version of a bill introduced in last year’s session that aims to solidify the designation of players on female high school sports teams as biologically female.
House Bill 359 would require certain interscholastic and intramural junior varsity and varsity athletic teams or sports sponsored by certain schools to be expressly designated based on biological sex; prohibiting certain entities from taking certain adverse actions against a school or county board of education for maintaining separate interscholastic and intramural junior varsity and varsity athletic teams and sports for students of the female sex; and providing that certain individuals have the right to bring a civil action under certain circumstances.
Basically, it’s a bill that, if passed, would ensure that transgender student athletes—specifically those born biologically male who have transitioned to a female identity—cannot compete on girls’ varsity or junior varsity high school sports teams.
Bill sponsor Delegate Kathy Szeliga says, “It ensures that girls who qualify for high school junior varsity and varsity sports are competing against other biological girls. It’s about protecting girls’ opportunities for success in competitive sports. There must be fairness, and safety, in sports for girls to hold state records, qualify for collegiate scholarships, and find success.”
Critics of the bill, especially of the LGBTQ+ community, argue the bill is expressly discriminatory.
Currently, the bill is in the Ways & Means Committee.
Question: Do you agree or disagree with the bill and why?
Please share your thoughts by filling out this form. Today’s responses—and all future Feedback Friday responses—will be published in our Monday newsletters after the weekend. AND, several responses from recent topics will appear in our upcoming print magazines!
