A bill deemed transphobic has been introduced by Ohio Republicans for a vote in the Senate. It would require that young women whose gender identity is questioned undergo genital checks. Right-wing representatives of this state justify the proposed law as an effort to ensure fairness on school sports teams.
The bill that surprised many. As LGBTQI Pride Month kicked off on Wednesday, June 8, Ohio Republicans introduced a bill that would require female athletes whose gender identity is disputed to undergo genital screening. This violates the rights not only of the transgender community, but also of children. According to a columnist for Washington PostRepublican representatives are motivated by “an imaginary invasion of transgender girls.”
In that American newspaper opinion piece, Alyssa Rosenberg denounces the bill, which has already been approved by the state House of Representatives:
“The latest trend in American politics is to encourage the whistleblower spirit. [Si el Senado del Estado de Ohio aprueba este proyecto de ley]anyone could force girls and young women who want to stay on their high school or college sports teams to undergo invasive gender testing.”
Mandatory pelvic and vaginal exams
The representatives who promote this bill use the excuse of equity in school sports teams. To participate in a team sport, a girl whose gender is in question will first have to see a doctor, who will have to affirm her gender identity by issuing “an examination of the anatomy of the internal and external reproductive system, a certificate of the normal character of the endogenous production of testosterone by the participant or an analysis of the genetic characteristics of the same.
Senate review in late 2022
Columnist Alyssa Rosenberg comments on the abuses that could occur if this law goes into effect. One of them is the erroneous complaints:
“With this bill, anyone [ya sea un padre que quiera eliminar a un competidor de su hijo, o un activista de una asociación nacional que busque crear problemas a nivel local] would have the ability to question the gender of an athlete, without the law providing any deterrent to false claims.”
This means that each person could force the other to undergo medical tests to prove their sex. A failure to monitor “the vicious way some competition-obsessed parents could use this bill to harm not just trans girls, but all girls.”
The bill introduced in the Senate will not be considered before the month of November “Ohio senators and Republican Governor Mike DeWine still have a chance to get children and young people out of this abyss. Let’s hope they do,” the article says.
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