The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and the Fairness Campaign condemn the Kentucky Senate Education Committee for advancing a bill to ban transgender youth from playing sports consistent with their gender identity. With SB 83 one step closer to becoming law, Kentucky is starting down the wrong path: if SB 83 passes into law Kentucky risks joining the ranks of West Virginia, Idaho, Tennessee and Florida, where similar legislation has faced costly lawsuits as well as injunctions.

“In a time when kids should be able to celebrate being back together, nine members of the Kentucky Senate Education Committee have chosen instead to separate teammates from each other by discriminating against and isolating transgender young people who simply want to play the sports they love alongside their friends,” said Human Rights Campaign State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley. “We thank Senators Denise Harper Angel, Gerald Neal and Reggie Thomas for standing up for the Commonwealth's youth. We call on the General Assembly to follow their lead by voting ‘no’ on SB 83 and all legislation that harms transgender youth – to avoid putting the national spotlight on Kentucky for the wrong reasons – and to do the right thing for Kentucky’s families.”

“Every Kentucky kid should have the opportunity to play sports—to have fun with their friends, get a good education, learn about sportsmanship, and be active, happy, and healthy—including transgender kids,” said Fairness Campaign Executive Director Chris Hartman. “Today, Kentucky families shared with state senators how this bill will harm them directly. Senate Bill 83 is an unnecessary coordinated political attack on some of our most vulnerable youth, and our General Assembly should give it no further consideration. Let all Kentucky kids play.”

The Senate Education Committee’s advancement of SB 83 comes after a historically bad 2021 session that saw a record number of anti-transgender bills introduced and passed across the country. Caught in the crosshairs of anti-LGBTQ+ elected officials’ divisive political strategy are kids who are simply trying to navigate their adolescence — kids who face relentless targeting and increasing levels of discrimination in their community, as evidenced by the record incidents of fatal violence against transgender and gender non-binary people in 2021.

Anti-Transgender Attacks As A Political Talking Point

Legislators in a record 34 states introduced 147 anti-transgender bills in 2021, focusing on discriminatory anti-equality measures to drive a wedge between their constituents and score short-term political points. In 2021, legislators in twelve states enacted anti-LGBTQ+ bills despite failing to provide examples of what exactly they were legislating against.

Merely introducing anti-transgender bills and peddling anti-transgender rhetoric has already had a damaging impact, leading to LGBTQ+ youth resources being surreptitiously removed from a government website, 11-year old kids literally having trouble sleeping, and a school district banning graphic novels with a transgender character after a parent's complaint. 2021 and 2020 were the deadliest and second deadliest years on record for trans & gender non-conforming people respectively, with the Human Rights Campaign tracking at least 50 violent deaths in 2021 alone. A new Trevor Project survey shows that a startling 85% of transgender or gender non-binary youth say their mental health has been negatively affected by these legislative attacks.

Anti-transgender content on social media is also a radicalizing issue all by itself– in large part due to transgender young people being among the most marginalized, voiceless, and defenseless communities in America and because right-wing arguments play on long-standing misogynistic, racist, and sexist tropes about gender roles.

Businesses, Advocacy Groups, and Athletes Oppose Anti-Trans Legislation

More than 150 major U.S. corporations have stood up and spoken out to oppose anti-transgender legislation being proposed in states across the country. Companies like Amazon, American Airlines, Apple, AT&T, Airbnb, Dell, Dow, Google, IBM, Lyft, Marriott, Microsoft, Nike and Paypal have objected to these bills. Four of the largest U.S. food companies also condemned “dangerous, discriminatory legislation that serves as an attack on LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly transgender and nonbinary people,” and the Walton Family Foundation issued a statement expressing “alarm” at the trend of anti-transgender legislation that recently became law in Arkansas.

Many are rightly protective of the legacy of women’s sports in this country, and a robust Title IX is central to that legacy. Importantly, advocates for women and girls in sports – such as the National Women’s Law Center, the Women’s Sports Foundation, Women Leaders in College Sports, and others – support trans-inclusive policies and oppose efforts to exclude transgender students from participating in sports. So do prominent female athletes including Billie Jean King, Megan Rapinoe, and Cheryl Reeve. That’s because while there are real issues facing women’s sports, including a lack of resources devoted to supporting them, transgender participation in athletics is not one of them.

The nation’s leading child health and welfare groups representing more than 7 million youth-serving professionals and more than 1,000 child welfare organizations released an open letter calling for lawmakers in states across the country to oppose dozens of bills that target LGBTQ+ people, and transgender children in particular.

Nearly 550 college athletes have stood up to anti-transgender legislation by demanding the NCAA pull championships from states that have enacted anti-trans sports laws.

Trans Equality Is Popular Across All Demographics

The reality is that however sensational and polarizing this issue may seem, public opinion polling across the country shows strong support for trans-inclusive and pro-equality policies:

Recent PRRI data shows a large majority of Americans (82%) favor laws that protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing, and majorities of Republicans (67%), independents (85%), and Democrats (92%) favor nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ Americans.

A PBS/NPR/Marist poll states that 67% of Americans, including 66% of Republicans, oppose the anti-transgender sports ban legislation proliferating across 30 states.

In a 10-swing-state poll conducted by the Human Rights Campaign & Hart Research Group in 2020 showed:

• At least 60% of Trump voters across each of the ten swing states say transgender people should be able to live freely and openly.

• At least 87% of respondents across each of the ten swing states say transgender people should have equal access to medical care, with many states breaking 90% support.

• When respondents were asked about how they prioritized the importance of banning transgender people from participating in sports as compared to other policy issues, the issue came in dead last, with between 1% and 3% prioritizing the issue.

Another poll conducted by the Human Rights Campaign & Hart Research Group revealed that, with respect to transgender youth participation in sports, the public’s strong inclination is on the side of fairness and equality for transgender student-athletes. 73% of voters agree that “sports are important in young people’s lives. Young transgender people should be allowed opportunities to participate in a way that is safe and comfortable for them.”

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.

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