One of the earlier bills introduced this year is an effort from Assemblymember Kate Sanchez to bar transgender girls from participating in female high school sports.
Sacramento Snapshot
Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.
The bill from Sanchez, R-Rancho Santa Margarita, would require the California Interscholastic Federation, which oversees high school sports, to prohibit students who were assigned male at birth from participating in female sports.
“When biological men are allowed to compete in women’s sports, it creates an unfair playing field,” Sanchez said in a video promoting her bill. “Young women who have spent years training, sacrificing and earning their place to compete in the highest level are now being forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages.”
“It’s not just unfair, it’s disheartening and dangerous,” Sanchez continued. “For girls, this is about more than competition. It’s about safety.”
Sanchez’s bill is likely dead on arrival in the Democratic-controlled legislature.
Just last year, legislators passed — and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law — a bill preventing schools from enforcing parental notification policies, requirements that could disclose a student’s gender identity to parents without consent.
Still, Sanchez said, “Regardless of where Sacramento Democrats are on this issue, they’ll need to face facts.”
“There are undeniable advantages that male athletes have over women in most competitive sports. Even if they refuse to hear us out on this policy, I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “I’ll continue fighting to make sure young women athletes can compete fairly and safely.”
The argument over whether transgender student-athletes should be allowed to compete in school sports, including at the collegiate level, has been percolating for a few years now across the country. The Biden administration in 2023 sought to shore up protections for transgender student-athletes but later dropped the efforts, with not enough time before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
What bills are Orange County’s legislators pushing this year? Check out our bill tracker here.Dr. Joshua Safer, the executive director of the Mount Sinai Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, has said someone’s genetics don’t necessarily equate to different athletic performances.
“A person’s genetic make-up and internal and external reproductive anatomy are not useful indicators of athletic performance,” Safer is quoted as saying in a piece for the ACLU debunking myths about trans athletes. “For a trans woman athlete who meets NCAA standards, there is no inherent reason why her physiological characteristics related to athletic performance should be treated differently from the physiological characteristics of a non-transgender woman.”
Sanchez grew up playing volleyball, from elementary through high school. Her concern, she said, is with safety.
“Whether in contact sports, locker rooms or shared spaces, these policies place our daughters at risk,” she said. “We cannot ignore the physical and emotional toll this takes.”
In other news
• This year, Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who represents communities in southern Orange County, has been selected to lead the Environmental Quality committee. Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, is chairing the Judiciary Committee again. And Sen. Bob Archuleta, a Democrat whose district includes Brea, is leading the Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.
Sens. Steven Choi, R-Irvine, and Kelly Seyarto, R-Murrieta, are vice-chairs of several committees. For Choi, that includes Business, Professions and Economic Development; Elections and Constitutional Amendments; and Local Government. For Seyarto, that’s Appropriations, Housing, Natural Resources and Water and Public Safety.
• The Senate is scheduled to host its first committee hearing of the special session on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Sign up for Down Ballot, our Southern California politics email newsletter. Subscribe here.As a reminder, the purpose of the special session is to “safeguard California values and fundamental rights in the face of an incoming Trump administration.” More specifically, that entails a proposal to shore up additional funding for the state’s Department of Justice to take on litigation to fight “unlawful actions” undertaken by the incoming administration.
Republicans, however, have lambasted the special session, particularly as the devastating fires ravaged Los Angeles last week.
“We shouldn’t be focusing on Trump-proofing California. We should be focusing on fire-proofing California,” Sen. Brian Jones, the minority leader, said on the floor.
Related Articles
Politics | Sacramento Snapshot: The legislature is back to work, and we’re tracking these bills from OC legislators Politics | Sacramento Snapshot: Legislators launch bid to ‘Trump-proof’ California Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Sacramento Snapshot: Legislator launches effort to bar transgender student-athletes from female sports )
Also on site :
- Rodney Hinton Jr., whose 18-year-old son was shot dead by police, denied bond in killing of sheriff’s deputy
- 'Bachelorette' Star Hannah Brown Reveals Rare & Shocking Health Condition
- Kelsey Grammer Reveals Former Girlfriend Aborted Their Son When He Was in College