More anti-trans bills have been introduced in 2021 compared to any other year, and a Mississippi bill that bans trans girls and trans femme youth from participating in school sports became the first to be signed into law yesterday.

These bills, which target trans youth athletes in 25 states, would violate Biden’s executive order on preventing and combating discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation.

The order states “children should be able to learn without worrying about whether they will be denied access to the restroom, the locker room, or school sports.”

In a Twitter announcement about the bill, Mississippi’s Governor Tate Reeves claimed that Biden’s executive order ‘encourages transgenderism.’

“Transgenderism” is a dehumanizing term used against trans people, and it cannot be ‘encouraged’ by anyone — not even the President of the United States.

Reeves’ remarks feed the perception that being transgender is a condition (it is not), and reflect that the lawmakers who are policing trans lives, really don’t understand what it means to be trans.

Most of these lawmakers and sponsors (including those from Mississipi) 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, Associated Press reports.

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.

Without a legal challenge, the bill is set to become law on July 1st, making Mississippi the first state to enact the ban and South Dakota is set to sign a similar bill into law.

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/