The commission governing high school sports in Alaska has voted to ban transgender girls from competing on high school sports teams that match their gender identity.
At a meeting in Anchorage on Monday, the Alaska School Activities Association Board of Directors agreed to a unanimous vote by the State Board of Education and the State Board of Education, restricting women’s participation in sports to “female at birth.” The vote was passed 5-3 to limit the number of players to “assigned players.” Initial development in August.
ASAA Executive Director Billy Strickland said the changes are effective immediately.
Mr. Strickland asked to amend the school board’s rules because a previous school board decision would not have allowed the school to participate in ASAA or other athletic organizations without such a ban. He said he recommended a vote.
“We don’t want to see sports shut down, perhaps through the court system,” Strickland said.
There are currently no legal challenges to this issue in Alaska.
Strickland said ASAA is required to have an appeals process for athletes who want to challenge their eligibility, but it was unclear Tuesday how that would work for transgender girls. said.
ASAA’s board of directors initially considered the move in May, but waited until the school board voted unanimously to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports before changing the bylaws on Monday. .
The school board received more than 1,400 pages of public testimony and heard several hours of public testimony in July, most of which opposed the proposed changes.
Advocates say preventing transgender athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identity keeps competition fair and safe. Opponents worry that discrimination against certain athletes could deter participation and lead to costly lawsuits.
“From a safety standpoint, we’re not there yet,” Strickland said. “From a competitive standpoint, you could argue that the student pushed the other kids off the podium.”
Strickland said he is aware of only one case in which a transgender athlete competed in an ASAA-sanctioned state championship event. The athlete ran Division II track and finished second.
Following the ASAA vote, the Anchorage School District released a statement saying it was “disappointed” with the decision.
Anchorage Board of Education President Margo Bellamy provided written testimony to the ASAA board prior to the vote.
“AASA should not set policy or interfere with local ordinances or municipal policies,” Bellamy wrote. “This ordinance change would force school districts to discriminate on the basis of gender and force school districts to comply with unreasonable and harmful requirements, or to find alternatives if they do not comply.”
The commission sought legal advice this spring to determine whether ASAA or the school board has the authority to regulate eligibility in high school sports based on gender. A legal memo requested by Strickland in April states that although the department has no direct authority over ASAA, public schools are prohibited from competing under ASAA unless they follow regulations established by the department. It was stated that there was a possibility that
The only Alaska high school sports not sanctioned by ASAA are Native Youth Olympics and downhill skiing. Strickland said organizers of such competitions must decide for themselves whether to allow transgender girls to compete against other girls.
Alaska joins 19 other states where transgender athletes are prohibited from competing on teams that match their gender identity. Courts in four other states are deciding whether similar bans are legal.
Before Monday, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District was the only school district in the state with a similar ban on trans athletes. Their school board voted to ban transgender girls from girls’ sports in 2022.