The transgender sports ban was a priority for the GOP-led House in Florida. | Phil Sears / AP Photo
TALLAHASSEE – The Republican Senate in Florida seems to be dropping a controversial transgender sports ban under Republican control, a development that will give LGBTQ activists and Democrats a huge victory.
The LGBTQ community and legislators condemn the bill, which stipulates that K-12 and sports teams must be designated on the basis of ‘biological’ sex, while state agencies are charged with policies to eliminate gender disputes. transgender students.
“Ding dong the witch is dead,” tweeted Senate Janet Cruz (D-Tampa), a critic of the bill. “Rip Transgender Account.”
The issue was exacerbated last week when the NCAA notified states such as Florida just before the Florida House voted in favor of the measure, warning that places that do not treat all student athletes with “dignity and respect” may not be eligible to host future championship matches. .
A panel of the highest Senate adjourned on Tuesday in view of the ban, a move that indicates the upper house is reluctant to proceed with the bill. The guarantor, the powerful head of the Senate’s budget, Kelli Stargel, said she would pay attention to the rounding up of the state budget with less than two weeks left.
“Right now, my primary focus as credit chairman is our constitutional responsibility to pass a balanced budget,” Stargel, a Lakeland Republican, said in a statement to POLITICO. “And in a time-limited environment, I do not know that we will have enough time to visit SB 2012 again.”
The Florida House approved its transgender sports bill, called the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, by a vote of 77-40 on April 14, mostly by party lines, with all but one Democrat.
Florida’s GOP legislators argue that the bill is necessary to protect the sanctity of women’s sports, in the way of more than 20 other GOP-leaning states that use the issue to restrict transgender rights. The measure was a priority for the IDP-led House, which through this legislative session has pushed through several bills that have driven lawmakers in the country’s cultural wars, including measures aimed at combating companies on social media and anti-riot legislation. .
Opponents of the transgender ban argue that it will only legalize “for transgender students” bullying.
State Senator Shevrin Jones (D-Miami Gardens) said he hopes the Senate bill, FL SB2012 (21R), will die in his committee on Tuesday – the last scheduled meeting of 2021.
“The legislature in Florida has done enough bad policies for one session, and the last thing we need is a more divided rhetoric that is nothing more than keeping everyone in our little corners, while the people of Florida abhor it. looking at the legislature, “Jones, an openly gay legislator and outspoken LGBTQ advocate, said in a statement to POLITICO.
House leaders have criticized the NCAA’s criticism of transgender sports bans. House Speaker Chris Sprowls (R-Palm Harbor) told reporters last week that “we can not care less” after the House approved the ban.
“I think it’s a movement now that you’re seeing in the American business world, whether it’s the NCAA or maybe someone tomorrow, that we’re going to use our big business to bully the state,” he said.
The Senate’s Transgender Proposal broke from the House version by allowing athletes who declare themselves to be female to sport if their testosterone levels are below a certain point, although Stargel has submitted an amendment that would bring the bills closer. According to the House’s version, the medical profession can verify a student’s gender if gender disputes arise.
“I believe Florida needs to protect the ability of girls and women to participate in athletics safely, and I think there is consensus among my colleagues around the underlying policy goal,” Stargel said Tuesday. ‘We want to get there in a way that respects the inherent dignity of each person, while acknowledging the fact that the biological differences between men and women can be significant, and can vary depending on how far a person is within them. crossing. ”