Alabama extends anti-trans sports ban to include athletes in colleges and universities
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Alabama Republican Gov. Kay Ivey on Tuesday signed into law legislation banning transgender student-athletes in public colleges and universities from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity.
House Bill 261 extends a previous anti-trans ban, which went into effect in 2021 and already targeted transgender students from grades K-12.
Ivey praised the discriminatory bill, saying in a statement the newly signed legislation is about “fairness,” but opponents say its only purpose is to “shame transgender people publicly.”
The governor is “actively taking part in the systematic attack against LGBTQ+ people,” Carmarion D. Anderson, Human Rights Campaign’s Alabama state director, said Tuesday in a statement. “From dictating what bathrooms we can use to blatantly ignoring the actual problems in women’s sports, these politicians are making Alabama an increasingly hostile place for transgender people and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole.”
The bill is the latest example of an ongoing effort by Republican lawmakers in conservative states to pass legislation restricting the rights of trans individuals during a record-breaking year in anti-LGBTQ legislation.
It “joins the catalog of Alabama legislation that negatively affects the experience of trans individuals in the state,” the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama said in a statement.
According to the HRC HB 261 is Alabama’s second anti-transgender sports ban — and fourth anti-LGBTQ law in two years.
Earlier this month, Alabama became the 16th state to ban gender-affirming care for minors.
On May 14, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction to stop the state from enforcing the law, which makes it a felony to prescribe puberty blockers to trans youth, while a court challenge moves forward.
With News Wire Services
