Oklahoma Governor Signs Bill to Ban Trans Students from Playing School Sports

The day before Transgender Day of Visibility, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 2 “Save Women’s Sports Act” into law, which bans transgender students from playing school sports for their correct gender. This bill makes the state the 13th nationwide to pass such a law. 

SB 2 now prohibits transgender students of any public school in the state from playing sports with a team that matches their gender identity. The bill also states that, before the beginning of every school year, the parents of student athletes who will compete must sign an “affidavit acknowledging the biological sex of the student at birth.” 

At the signing, Stitt was surrounded by girls holding signs that read “Save women’s sports.” He says that enacting the measure “is just common sense,” as reported by NBC News. “When it comes to sports and athletics: Girls should compete against girls. Boys should compete against boys.” 

“Let’s be very clear—That’s all this bill says,” Stitt adds.

The same day that the bill was signed, the Human Rights Campaign released a statement addressing the new bill and its negative effect on trans children. 

“Governor Stitt and Oklahoma legislators have sadly decided that harming Oklahoma’s most vulnerable children and their families is worthwhile if it’s politically helpful with the extreme elements of their base,” HRC’s State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley says. 

“It’s only March, and 2022 is on track to be the worst year on record for introduction and enactment of anti-transgender legislation,” Oakley adds. 

The state legislature is moving forward with two additional bills that target the LGBTQ community. SB 9 will expand the definition of obscene material to include queer and LGBTQ subjects, and SB 1100 will eliminate nonbinary or any symbol representing nonbinary from official documents. 

Other states that have a law that ban transgender students from playing sports consistent with their gender identity are: Florida, Texas, Alabama, Idaho, South Dakota, Arizona, Utah, and many more.