There are at least 30 states nationwide where lawmakers have introduced bills to ban transgender women and girls from competing on girls' and women's sports teams. Here in Ohio, two such bills are working their way through the legislature. Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum, and Sen. Kristina Roegner, R-Hudson, have introduced House Bill 61 and Senate Bill 132.
Powell says her bill, the Save Women's Sports Act, is a matter of fairness. According to Powell, biological males are competing against girls and it is very hard for girls to compete on a level playing field.
In Ohio, transgender girls can play on a girls' sports team if they have completed at least one year of hormone replacement therapy.
Endocrinologist Joshua Safer, who served as an expert witness for the ACLU in a case challenging Idaho's transgender athlete law, says "It's not clear that transgender women have an advantage, at least as adults, when their testosterone levels are in the appropriate ranges; in fact they may be at a disadvantage."
Joining Cincinnati Edition to discuss the Save Women's Sports Act are Ohio State Representative Jena PowellR-Arcanum; Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Professor of Medicine and Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery Executive Director Joshua Safer, MD.
Listen to Cincinnati Edition live at noon M-F. Audio for this segment will be uploaded after 4 p.m. ET.
Never miss an episode by subscribing to our podcast:
