I would like to clear up some inaccuracies you may have heard surrounding the Fairness in Girls’ Sports bill, HB 1298.
- The bill will stop all kids’ sports in North Dakota. No, it will not. If anything, the bill will encourage girls to continue participating in sports, knowing their hard work will be rewarded.
- Outside sporting events like boys’ hockey, girls’ soccer, etc. and their money will be driven out of ND because of this bill. The bill has been amended to ensure these events can continue and there will be no adverse economic effects.
- Girls will not be allowed to participate on boys’ teams, like a female field goal kicker on a boy’s football team. The bill specifically allows girls to play on boys’ teams (section 3 of the bill).
- This is blatant discrimination against transgender individuals. This bill is not about discriminating against transgender youths, but about preventing discrimination against girls participating in sports.
- North Dakota High School Athletics Association rules already address this. They do address it, but association rules can be changed at any point (i.e., they are not law), and NDHSAA rules on this allow boys who have taken testosterone suppression drugs to participate in girls’ sports, even though they’ve been shown to make little difference in performance.
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HB 1298 is badly needed to keep the playing field level for ND girls’ sports. Please encourage your senator to vote YES on HB 1298.
Mark Jorritsma is with the Family Policy Alliance of North Dakota
This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.
