Repeal Hempfield School District Transgender Sports Ban

The Issue

On July 12, 2022, the Hempfield School Board voted in favor of Policy 123.1, which will ban transgender and nonbinary athletes from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity. This made Hempfield the first school district in Pennsylvania to adopt such a policy. We, as Hempfield alumni and community members, will be sending the following letter to the school board asking them to repeal this discriminatory policy that will harm students. Please sign this petition to sign on to the letter to the school board.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania is aware of this policy and taking action to fight against this policy if it is implemented.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/local/hempfield-school-board-passes-long-debated-athletics-policy-on-transgender-athletes/article_68857a92-024b-11ed-90d5-8b332381df5e.html

https://www.aclupa.org/en

Dear Hempfield School Board,

On July 12, 2022, the Hempfield School Board voted in favor of Policy 123.1, which limits the participation of student athletes to sports teams aligning with their gender assigned at birth.(1) This policy will ban transgender and nonbinary students from playing on teams that align with their gender identity. This is a harmful policy that will deeply affect students in the Hempfield School District. We, as alumni and community members of Hempfield School District, write to express our opposition to this policy and urge the board to repeal the policy.

In recent years, there have been many initiatives across the country to exclude trans students from playing sports on teams aligning with their gender identity. This is part of a wider trend of anti-LGBTQ laws and policies. 2021 exceeded 2015 as the year with the highest number of anti-LGBTQ legislation, and it appears that 2022 will continue this trend.(2) Unfortunately, many public officials have chosen to focus on banning trans athletes, rather than the many other issues facing students today. Created under the guise of “fairness,” this policy is actually unfair and harmful.

The focus on banning trans athletes is discriminatory. The School Board’s policy attempts to use Title IX as a reason for this ban, citing a need for discrimination based on sex in interscholastic athletics to provide opportunities for girls. However, this policy then goes on to exclude transgender girls from these opportunities. These types of bans focus on the “biological” differences between trans and cis athletes as being unfair. However, all children have different biological advantages and disadvantages when it comes to sports, including height, build, strength, speed, and endurance; these differences are not limited to trans athletes. It seems that this policy is not based on a desire to be fair, but a desire to discriminate against transgender students.

Additionally, trans athletes have competed in varying levels of athletics without problem. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and 20 states have allowed trans students to compete for decades. There have not been any widespread unfairness issues.(3) In fact, trans athletes only seem to attract the most notice when they win. If being trans was such an unfair advantage, trans athletes would be dominating in all girls’ sports. However, this has not been the case, which proves that allowing trans students to compete does not provide an undue advantage.

This policy institutes a widespread ban, which will harm and discriminate, rather than working with students to foster inclusion. The policy includes a statement about respect, after not showing respect for trans students. Further, Policy 123.1 states “It is the policy of this district that athletic teams and sports shall not be segregated on the basis of irrelevant classifications such as race, color, religion, ancestry, nationalorigin, sexual orientation or gender identity.”(4) However, this policy explicitly segregates based on gender identity.

This policy is founded on transphobic principles and will actively cause harm to students. Transgender students already face higher rates of discrimination, family rejections, bullying, violence, and suicide.(5) For example, in 2015, 77% of transgender adults who were out in high school or perceived as trans reported experiencing higher levels of discrimination and violence.(6) Additionally, trans students are more likely to have considered suicide, at 44% of transgender youth compared with 16% of cisgender youth.(7) This policy will further exacerbate these problems by discriminating against trans students.

It is unfortunate that the school board decided to go out of its way to create a policy that bans trans student athletes from playing on the team aligning with their gender identity. Instead of working with students and fostering inclusion, the school board has issued a blanket ban and seeks to discriminate. While the school board may have thought it was solving a problem, it really created a larger problem that will result in discrimination and potential lawsuits. We as alumni and community members are disappointed that our school would choose to discriminate and harm, and we ask for the school board to repeal this policy and implement policies that promote inclusion.

Sincerely,

Alumni and Community of Hempfield School District