Oregon rep. Christine Drazan introduces state legislation to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports

SALEM Ore. (KPTV) - On Wednesday, House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) introduced legislation intended to ban transgender athletes from girls’ sports in K-12 schools.

Drazan’s announcement came shortly after President Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”

“I want to thank President Trump for taking executive action to protect women’s rights and fair competition in women’s sports. I urge our state to take similar action to protect women and comply with Title IX,” Drazan wrote.

Like Trump’s order at the federal level, Oregon LC 3895 would require schools to designate athletic competitions and extracurricular sports according to biological sex, according to Drazan’s office.

“Women have fought for—and earned—respect and support for themselves in sports and have made incredible gains in doing so. We must defend that progress and stand up for fairness.” wrote Rep. Drazan. “We can respect the dignity of every individual without endangering women in sports,” Drazan added.

Advocates for the LGBTQ+ community say that transgender women competing in women’s sports is a rare occurrence.

They say it won’t just be transgender athletes that will be impacted by President Trump’s new executive order, but also young transgender girls.

“Imagine her suddenly being removed, not able to play that sport with her friends. Interruptions are to not play or to play on a boy’s team when she lives and is seen as a girl by her classmates. That is a very unfortunate and isolating experience,” said Blair Stenvick with Basic Rights Oregon.

In a statement, the Oregon Schools Activities Association said:

“We will work to review the executive order with our legal counsel and its potential effect on current Oregon nondiscrimination law and association policy... The OSAA will continue to act under the direction of the Association’s members and in compliance with applicable law to support meaningful and enriching participation opportunities for tens of thousands of Oregon students.”

Drazan’s bill is set to be introduced later this week with sponsors from both the House and Senate.