Photo: Sam Doran/SHNS
BOSTON (State House News Service) — Supporters gathered at the State House on Wednesday promoting a bill to allow student athletes to sit out games if players of the opposite sex are competing. And while the proposal's backers were pleased with President Donald Trump's forthcoming executive order to ban transgender women from school sports, they emphasized the Massachusetts bill is not aimed at trans people.
At issue is a 1979 Supreme Judicial Court ruling that allows boys to play on girls' teams if there is no equivalent boys' team for that sport, according to the Massachusetts Family Institute, a socially conservative advocacy group that hosted the briefing.
Recent injuries are prompting the move, according to MFI president Michael King, including a 2023 incident when a male field hockey player knocked out the teeth of a girl on the Dighton-Rehoboth field hockey team. Boys have greater muscle mass, bone density, and cardiovascular strength, King said, leading them to have an "unfair advantage" on girls' teams.
"We needed to do something. The girls -- not only the player was traumatized, but the student athletes that witnessed this were traumatized," said Dighton-Rehoboth School Committee member Katie Ferreira-Aubin.
The bill, sponsored by Republicans Rep. John Gaskey and Sen. Ryan Fattman, would specify that public school athletes could not be penalized for sitting out a match if their single-sex team faces an opposing team with at least one member of the opposite sex. A coach would also be able to forfeit a match in the same situation without a penalty against their school.
"This is strictly an opt-out bill designed to protect the safety of female athletes and preserve the right of girls and their teams to protest unfair competitions," said MFI general counsel Sam Whiting.
Players and coaches currently face the possibility of punishment at the local level but it varies from school to school, Whiting told the News Service.
"Typically, if an athlete refuses to play in a game, that might result in something like a loss of playing time, maybe they'll be benched in a future game, maybe they'll lose starting status. And then as far as a coach, if a coach is doing something that a superintendent or a school committee doesn't agree with ... obviously that coach's job could be in jeopardy," Whiting said.
Trump on Wednesday was set to sign an executive order to ban transgender women from competing in women's sports. While the Massachusetts bill is "not an anti-transgender bill," Whiting said, he viewed it as an opportunity for the Bay State to follow Trump's lead.
"We, of course, welcome and applaud this action and hope that Congress will also take action to amend Title IX to do the same," Whiting said during the event. He added, "The American people spoke strongly in favor of protections for girls' sports when they elected President Trump in November. The tide is turning. Our Legislature should take the lead of the president and act to protect female athletes here in the commonwealth."
An opponent of the bill arrived and unfolded a small protest sign at the end of the press conference, apparently prompting Ferreira-Aubin to return to the lectern.
"Kids' genitals are not your business!" said the sign.
"I feel the people that are opposed to this bill are saying it's an anti-trans bill. ... None of these boys are identifying as trans. They are not identifying as trans. They are male athletes. So I just want to leave you with that," Aubin said.
Written by Sam Doran/SHNS
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