Philadelphia schools to allow trans children to participate in sports
The Philadelphia school district will reportedly ignore a rule directing schools to ban transgender athletes from participating in sports that match their gender identities, according to reporting from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The school district 'strives to ensure safety, equity and justice for all students regardless of gender identity or gender expression so that they can imagine and realize any future they desire', a spokesperson, Christina Clark, said in a statement on Tuesday to the Inquirer.
'The district will continue to align its practices to support its LGBTQ+ students in accordance with Board Policy 252 for transgender and gender non-conforming students,' the statement said.
The district's decision comes after the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) approved a revision to remove its transgender policy in compliance with Donald Trump's executive order called Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports, which banned transgender athletes from competing in women's sports.
According to the PIAA's board meeting summary from 19 February, the policy change, which was effective immediately, was amended in the Mixed Gender Participation section of the handbook.
Before the the amendment, the PIAA handbook included a one-sentence transgender policy: 'Where a student's gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the principal as to the student's gender will be accepted by PIAA.'
Additionally, the board changed its language to no longer ask schools to determine students' gender, but rather their sex.
The Philadelphia school district's move to continue to allow freedom for trans athletes is a sign of positive pushback for trans people, who have experienced an onslaught on their rights following Trump's executive order.
Philadelphia had originally been one of the earliest adopters of progressive policies towards transgender issues, voting in 2016 to allow students to use preferred pronouns, bathrooms and to play in sports that match their gender identity.
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