On Thursday, Gov. Tate Reeves signed “the Mississippi Fairness Act” into law, requiring the state’s schools to designate teams by sex assigned at birth and prohibiting transgender student athletes from participating in school sports in accordance with their gender identity.
In a March 4 tweet, Reeves said the law would “protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities.”
The bill’s sponsor, state Sen. Angela Hill, told The Associated Press that she had been approached by “numerous coaches” who felt there was a need for a policy “because they are beginning to have some concerns of having to deal with this.”
Neither Hill nor other supporters of the bill presented evidence of transgender athletes competing in Mississippi schools or universities. Reeves and Hill are Republicans.
