A Montana judge says a ban on trans athletes in collegiate sport cannot continue
A judge in the US state of Montana has decreed that a series of laws passed by the state’s Republican-led legislature affecting university and collegiate matters are unconstitutional, including one which was designed to prohibit transgender women from competing in female sporting events.
The Montana constitution affords the state board of regents control of public college campuses and gives them higher authority than state lawmakers when it comes to imposing – or removing – rules, something which was recently affirmed by the state’s Supreme Court.
The court’s ruling comes amid intense scrutiny focused on the subject of transgender athletes in sport. One side of the debate insists that athletes shouldn’t be denied their right to compete in athletics due to their gender identity, while the other argues that it affords transgender athletes a distinct competitive advantage over their peers.
It is the second ruling in a matter of days in relation to transgender issues after it was also determined by another judge that a state rule be temporarily lifted, which prohibited transgender people from altering details on their birth certificates.
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Female transgender collegiate and high-school athletes are currently banned from competing against or with women or girls in at least 12 states governed by Republican legislatures.
“The legislature needs to stay in its lane,” Amanda Curtiss, president of the Montana Federation of Public Employees, said of the ruling.