A contentious plan to allow Minnesota high school students to participate in sports based on their gender identity rather than their biological sex comes up for a vote Thursday amid a massive public outcry.
That's when the board of directors of the Minnesota State High School League will take yet another look at a draft of
"Gender Identity Participation in MSHSL Activities."
The draft was posted by the
Daily Signal.
According to the proposal, if a student can provide evidence of "sincerely held" belief that the student's gender identity is different from the "gender assigned at birth," then "the student will be eligible to participate in MSHSL activities consistent with the student's gender-related identification for the balance of the student's high school eligibility."
The evidence can be written statements from the student and from "parents, friends, and/or teachers," according to the draft.
The proposed policy has been opposed by the
Minnesota Child Protection League, which argues that it would necessitate transgender students' showering, dressing and sharing hotel accommodations with students of the opposite sex.
The group has run an add in the Minneapolis Star Tribune proclaiming, "A male wants to shower beside your 14-year-old daughter. Are YOU OK with that?" according to the Daily Signal.
Another ad slams the policy as "the end of girls' sports."
According to the Daily Signal, the group estimates it's gotten 10,000 emails in opposition to the policy.
But backers of the plan say the policy would give transgender students needed support.
"When my son was transitioning I had fears, but they were all based on my past," Rob Dunkelberger from Transforming Families told local station KARE, the Daily Signal reports. "Kids don't care. That's not the case anymore . . . What you are looking at passing here will give him the support he needs."
At its meeting in October, the 19-member eligibility board voted unanimously to table the plan so that more information could be collected, the
Star Tribune reports.
"The board is saying, 'Let's walk forward to get it right. Let's do it as quickly as we can,'" league executive director Dave Stead said at the time. "'Let's bring information forward so people can talk about what the issues happen to be.'"
The board postponed the action on two previous occasions, noting the flood of pubic comment.
No board members spoke against the policy's intent, the Star Tribune reports.
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