How sports became the playing field for the debate over transgender rights
Download mp3 (10.83 MB)A bill requiring Arizona high school student-athletes to compete on sports teams that match their sex assigned at birth rather than their gender identity has passed the state Senate and will come up for debate March 9 in a House committee.
The measure would, for example, prohibit transgender women from competing on girls’ teams. Eleven states have already approved similar measures after Iowa’s governor signed a bill last week in her state. Utah’s governor, though, has said he’ll veto a similar measure.
The issue has gotten renewed attention recently, as Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who swims for the University of Pennsylvania’s women’s team, recently won several races at the Ivy League championships. Thomas had previously competed on the school’s men’s swim team.
Kate Sosin is the LGBTQ+ reporter at the 19th, a nonprofit news site that covers gender, politics and policy.
The Show spoke with them about the debate and started the conversation by talking about why is it that sports now seem to be on the front lines of the conversation about the rights of the transgender community.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The story has been updated to correct Kate Sosin's pronouns.
