A school district in the Inland Empire voted on Tuesday to ban transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports at local high schools.
The motion was approved 3-2 at the Redlands Unified School District during a board meeting, which has been described by the San Bernardino Sun as a “marathon.”
The resolution approved is named “Fairness in Girls’ Interscholastic Sports.”
As of Thursday, it’s not clear if any transgender athletes currently compete in girls’ sports within the district, or have in the past, but the new motion means they’ll be unable to in the future.
The push to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports has been a controversial topic around the country. Opponents see the policies as discriminatory actions against a small population of vulnerable youth.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 3.3% of high schoolers throughout the U.S. identified as transgender as of the most recent study in 2023. The same study said that the population has experienced a “higher prevalence of violence, poor mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and unstable housing, and a lower prevalence of school connectedness than their cisgender peers.”
Supporters of the ban, however, cite concerns for fairness in girls’ sports, as they believe athletes whose sex assigned at birth is male could be at a biological advantage.
Last month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom took a surprising stance on the issue, calling it “deeply unfair” for athletes.
“I revere sports, so the issue of fairness is completely legit,” Newsom said.
Meanwhile, California politicians in recent weeks have rejected bills to ban trans athletes from girls’ sports on a statewide level.