Kentucky House passes ban on older transgender athletes

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky House advanced a measure Thursday that would bar transgender girls from participating in school sports that match their gender identity from sixth grade to college. Under the proposal, the gender of a student for the purpose of determining athletic eligibility would be determined by the ”student’s certified birth certificate as originally issued at the time of birth or adoption.” If it passes into law, Kentucky would join a growing number of GOP-dominated states adopting similar bans, though the bans have been challenged in several states as violations of federal law. American Civil Liberties Union Kentucky spokesman Samuel Crankshaw, in a statement, called the measure a “solution in search of a non-existent problem.” “If this becomes law, it will jeopardize our children’s mental health, physical well-being, and ability to access educational opportunities comparable to their peers,” Crankshaw said. KSU, the state’s only public historically Black university, has remained under state oversight since last summer when concerns about the school’s finances and lawsuits alleging misconduct by campus officials came to a head. Senate President Pro Tem David Givens said last week that a new board must “be in place and confirmed by the Senate” before the university receives the $23 million officials have called vital to the school’s survival.