Schools could limit transgender students’ sports participation under Biden admin proposal

The Biden administration on Thursday proposed a rule that would allow schools to place some restrictions on transgender athletes, particularly in competitive high school and college sports. 

In a long-awaited proposal, federal education officials said that K-12 schools and colleges cannot establish across-the-board bans on transgender students participating on sports teams that correspond with their gender identity — a direct challenge to laws in several states. But the proposal would allow schools to keep transgender students off certain teams in the interest of “ensuring fairness in competition or preventing sports-related injury,” according to an education department fact sheet.

That language echoes complaints by critics, including Republican lawmakers, who say that allowing transgender girls to compete in girls sports gives them an unfair advantage and poses potential safety risks.