A bill that bans trans girls and trans femme youth from participating in school sports was signed into law by Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves on Thursday, while Jackson, the state’s largest city, is facing a water crisis from February’s polar vortex.

The frigid temperatures caused at least 80 water main breaks or leaks, with about 40,000 residents losing access to running water.

Those who still don’t have water are being pushed to desperate situations: driving 30 to 40 minutes daily to get to a location with water; using leftovers from ice and snow; boiling whatever does come out pipes in fear of contamination, them. reports.

“Community leaders say that the disaster isn't a one-off and that it has brought to light long-simmering issues of systemic breakdown and neglect,” NBC reports.

“When elected leaders aren’t up to the real problems of our state, they tend to deflect and do anything to get people talking about something other than failing water systems, hospital closures, and teacher shortages,” ACLU Mississippi released in a statement.

Most lawmakers across the country don’t know of any transgender atheletes in their states, but claim that by banning trans youth, they’re trying to prevent possible problems for non-trans women.

But excluding trans girls and trans femme children from participating in sports has negative outcomes for trans and non-trans women: “It invites gender policing that could subject any woman to invasive tests or accusations of being ‘too masculine’ or ‘too good’ at their sport to be a ‘real’ woman,” ACLU reports.

Listen to an interview by NPR on how the hundreds of residents in Jackson are entering their fourth week of the water crisis caused by the winter storm: https://www.npr.org/2021/03/12/976342939/jackson-mississippi-residents-enter-fourth-week-of-water-crisis

Read about the trans youth directly affected by these bills, statements by organizations that have fought for women’s sports, and myths about trans athletes: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbt-rights/the-coordinated-attack-on-trans-student-athletes/