DeSantis signs controversial transgender athlete ban during visit to Jacksonville
Governor says he’s ready to deal with backlash from critics of bill
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News Service of Florida reporter Ryan Dailey contributed to this report.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As he inked his name to a controversial bill banning transgender female athletes from competing on high-school girls’ and college women’s sports teams, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would stand up to corporations and athletic organizations, like the NCAA, that have threatened backlash over the ban.
“They are not going to dictate the policies in this state,” DeSantis said, flanked by Republican lawmakers and student-athletes at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. “We will stand up to groups like the NCAA who think they should be able to dictate the policies in different states. Not here. Not ever.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signs transgender athlete bill into law on first day of Pride Month By Caitlin O Kane 3 states ban transgender athletes from sports
On Tuesday, the first day of Pride Month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a bill that bans transgender girls and women from competing on female sports teams at the high school and college level.
DeSantis appeared at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville to sign the Fairness in Women s Sports Act, which was introduced by Republican State Senator Travis Hutson in February.
The law states that women and girls must play on the sport teams of the biological sex on their birth certificate. Therefore, a transgender girl whose birth certificate denotes her biological sex as male, cannot play on a girls sports team.
Normal, IL, USA / www.cities929.com
Jun 1, 2021 | 2:01 PM
(The Center Square) â Florida became the seventh state to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports Tuesday when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act into law, dismissing threats of lawsuits and boycotts.
âWe wonât be cowed,â DeSantis said flanked by state lawmakers and student-athletes at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville. “In Florida, girls are going to play girls sports, and boys are going to play boys sports. That’s the reality.â
Moments after DeSantis signed Senate Bill 1028, The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, announced it will challenge the law in court.