Alaska board of education bans males from competing in female high school sports

 Alaska's state board of education voted to ban males who believe they are female from competing on girls' high school sports teams, with legislation stating the athletes must be born female.

The state board voted on an amendment that stated it "ensures fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for female students in high school athletics." 

"If a separate high school athletics team is established for female students, participation shall be limited to females who were assigned female at birth," the rule added.

The new regulation would apply to all schools and districts that join the Alaska School Activities Association, the regulating body for high school sports in the state, the Hill reported.

Current guidelines allow each school to make its own determination about transgender athletes being permitted in sports with the opposite sex. The rule states that once a student is assigned to a gender category, that decision “shall remain in effect for the duration of the student’s high school eligibility.” 

If a school does not have a written policy, then the athletic association's default position is that the student “may only participate based upon gender assigned at birth."

The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska called the move a form of "discrimination." 

“The Board has totally disregarded the ways this policy violates the privacy of young Alaskans, and sanctions wholesale discrimination against transgender children,” said Advocacy Director Michael Garvey.

The ACLU director also claimed the decision was a "direct attack on Alaskan students who simply want to play sports, like any other kid."

Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has been outspoken about the issue for quite some time, attempting to pass bills regarding boys in girls' sports, as well as address change room controversies.

"As a father of three daughters, watching the deterioration of a girl's ability to participate in athletics is alarming. To have biological males competing against biological females nullifies the fair nature of competitive sports," he said on X in 2022.

The battle between right-wing legislatures and transgender activists has continued, with victories seemingly becoming more numerous for women's sports.

In late August 2022, the International Powerlifting Federation changed its policy seemingly in response to outrage generated by a male dominating female competitions, breaking records along the way.

Male competitor Anne Andres, 40, defeated all his female competitors at the Canadian Powerlifting Union’s 2023 Western Canadian Championship. The complete lack of regulation at the event sparked outrage from female competitors and caused the international federation to take a step in the right direction in terms of its policies regarding testosterone levels.