Amid the debate regarding transgender female athletes participating in women’s sports throughout the country, the state of Ohio has made a major move against transgender athletes and the transgender community as a whole.
This week, Ohio House Republicans announced plans to add a provision banning transgender women from women’s sports to a bill that is already filled with anti-trans provisions that will prohibit minors from using puberty blockers, hormones, or undergoing gender surgery even with consent from their parents or guardians.
The legislation is sponsored by state Rep. Jena Powell, who claims that transgender women have physical advantages over those assigned female at birth, claiming transgender women have greater lung capacity, larger hearts, higher red blood cell counts, stronger tendons and ligaments, greater muscle strength, and increased bone density.
“All that girls are asking for is a fair shot, and to be given the chance to play and win by the rules in the sports that they love,” Powell said in a recent statement according to Cleveland.com. “That opportunity is being ripped from them by biological males.”
The amended ant-trans bill is expected to hit the Ohio House floor next week, according to current Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens.
