Texas Governor Greg Abbott on October 25 signed legislation banning transgender student-athletes from participating in sports in accordance with their gender identity, making his state the eighth this year to approve such harmful legislation.
The law, which goes into effect in January, stipulates that student-athletes can only participate in school sports that match the gender on their birth certificate at the time they were born. The measure bans the University Interscholastic League — the state’s governing body for school sports — from allowing athletes to use amended birth certificates. The only exception to the rule is when a sport is not offered for more than one gender.
