Page 3 - aruba-today-20210116

A3
U.S. NEWS Saturday 16 January 2021
Transgender athletes look to changing of White House guard

By PAT EATON-ROBB pects of life and not face
Associated Press discrimination at school.”
Transgender athletes are Neither of the two closely
getting an ally in the White watched cases is expected
House next week as they to be decided for months.
seek to participate as their A federal judge has sched-
identified gender in high uled a hearing for Feb. 26
school and college sports on a request to dismiss the
— although state legisla- Connecticut lawsuit.
tures, Congress and the The ACLU and the Chris-
courts are all expected to tian nonprofit Alliance De-
have their say this year, too. fending Freedom, which is
Attorneys on both sides say fighting in Connecticut and
they expect President-elect Idaho to bar the participa-
Joe Biden’s Department of tion of trans athletes, ex-
Education will switch sides pect Biden’s administration
in two key legal battles — to declare that Title IX also
one in Connecticut, the protects transgender girls
other in Idaho — that could from discrimination.
go a long way in determin- Opponents say Title IX pro-
ing whether transgender tects cisgender girls and
athletes are treated by the allowing trans girls to par-
sex on their birth certificates ticipate against them is a
or by how they identify. In this Feb. 7, 2019 file photo, Bloomfield High School transgender athlete Terry Miller, second from violation of the statute.
Debate is also expected left, wins the final of the 55-meter dash over transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood, far left, and “I think that is extremely
other runners in the Connecticut girls Class S indoor track meet at Hillhouse High School in New
in statehouses. Last year, Haven, Conn. concerning for the future of
bills to restrict transgender Associated Press women’s sports and would
athletes’ participation to reverse nearly 50 years of

their gender assigned at considered legitimate,” she gender students who iden- administration intervened gains for women under
birth were brought up in 17 said. “The courts will sort tify as female from playing in support of a lawsuit filed Title IX,” said Christiana Hol-
states, although only one, that out.” on female teams spon- by several non-transgender comb, an attorney for the
Idaho’s, became law. During his campaign, Biden sored by public schools, girls in Connecticut who Alliance Defending Free-
It may ultimately fall to committed to restoring colleges and universities. were seeking to block a dom. In states that have
Congress to clarify once transgender students’ ac- The law was supported by state policy that allows adopted policies on trans-
and for all whether Title cess to sports, bathrooms President Donald Trump’s transgender athletes to gender participation high
IX, the civil rights law that and locker rooms in accor- administration but blocked compete in line with their school sports, approaches
guarantees equal oppor- dance with their gender from implementation by a identity. The plaintiffs ar- have varied.
tunities for women and identity. federal judge while a legal gued transgender female Currently, 14 states and the
girls in education, protects “States that like Idaho at- challenge by ACLU pro- runners had an unfair physi- District of Columbia have
or bars the participation tempt to bar trans girls from ceeds. cal advantage. policies similar to Connecti-
of transgender females in girls sports, regardless of “Allowing males to enter But the two transgender cut’s, according to Trans-
women’s sports, said Eliza- age of transition, medical our sports isn’t fair,” Madi- runners at the center of athlete.com. Fourteen oth-
beth Sharrow, an associate intervention or anything son Kenyon, a cross-coun- that case said in court fil- ers allow transgender par-
professor of public policy at else, with a new federal try runner at Idaho State, ings that being able to run ticipation with certain con-
the University of Massachu- administration, will now be said in a statement Friday. against girls was central to ditions, such as hormone
setts. risking lawsuits by the feder- “It changes everything their well-being. treatments or other proof
“I think if they do that, law- al government, Justice De- because it eliminates the “Running has been so im- the athlete is transitioning,
makers at the state level partment intervention and connection between an portant for my identity, my according to the organiza-
can propose laws, but it the loss of federal fund- athlete’s effort and her growth as a person, and my tion.
doesn’t mean those pro- ing,” said Chase Strangio, success. Idaho’s law helps ability to survive in a world Opponents of bans are en-
posals are going to be the American Civil Liberties make sure that, when that discriminates against couraged by Biden’s vic-
taken seriously in the legis- Union’s deputy director for women like me work hard, me,” Andraya Yearwood tory and a 2020 Supreme
lative bodies they serve in transgender justice. that hard work pays off, wrote to the court. “I am Court decision that found
or that if the state passes In Idaho, a law signed in and we have a shot at win- thankful that I live in Con- that transgender people
those laws anyway that March became the na- ning.” necticut where I can be are protected from discrim-
they would necessarily be tion’s first to prohibit trans- In Connecticut, the Trump treated as a girl in all as- ination in employment.q

NRA declares bankruptcy, plans to incorporate in Texas

By PAUL J. WEBER millions of dollars for lavish personal trips, no- in a Dallas federal court.
Associated Press show contracts for associates and other ques- “The move will enable long-term, sustainable
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The National Rifle As- tionable expenditures. growth and ensure the NRA’s continued suc-
sociation announced Friday it has filed for The coronavirus pandemic has also upended cess as the nation’s leading advocate for
bankruptcy and will seek to incorporate the the NRA, which last year laid off dozens of constitutional freedom – free from the toxic
nation’s most politically influential gun-rights employees, canceled its national convention political environment of New York,” the NRA
group in Texas instead of New York. and scuttled fundraising. Still, the NRA claimed said in a statement.
The announcement made on the NRA’s web- in announcing the move that the organiza- The gun-rights group boasts about 5 million
site comes months after New York’s attorney tion was “in its strongest financial condition in members. Though headquartered in Virginia,
general sued the organization over claims years.” the NRA was chartered as a nonprofit in New
that top executives illegally diverted tens of The NRA said it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy York in 1871 and is incorporated in the state.q