A general view of an athlete in the starting blocks (John Walton/PA)The governor of the US state of Mississippi has signed a bill to ban transgender athletes from competing on girls or women’s sports teams. Conservative politicians are responding to an executive order by Democratic President Joe Biden that bans discrimination based on gender identity in school sports and elsewhere. Mr Biden signed it on January 20, the day he took office. Republican legislators who pushed the bill gave no evidence of any transgender athletes competing in Mississippi schools or universities. Supporters of bills such as the one in Mississippi argue that transgender girls, because they were born male, are naturally stronger, faster and bigger than those born female.

Source: Irish Independent March 11, 2021 16:22 UTC