Montana has banned transgender women and girls from competing in women’s interscholastic sports. Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed that ban into law Friday. Montana joins five other states in enacting a ban on transgender women and girls from participating in K-12 and college sports with other women and girls.
Supporters of the legislation say they’re trying to prohibit unfair sports competitions. However, the NCAA has had a policy guiding the fair inclusion of trans athletes in place for over a decade.
Opponents, including LGBTQ advocates, medical professionals and business leaders, say the policy is discriminatory and harmful to transgender youth.
Montana’s new law includes a clause that makes it void if the U.S. Department of Education threatens to pull federal education funding over the policy.
Gianforte recently signed another bill that requires a person who’s trangender and wants to amend their birth certificate to first prove they’ve had gender-affirming surgery.
Republican Sen. Carl Glimm brought the bill, saying the legal documents shouldn’t change without “significant reason.”
Opponents of the bill say it’s a punitive measure and discriminatory.