🏀 Title IX and trans student-athletes

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🏀⚽🏈 The Biden administration seems to have abandoned an attempt to protect trans student-athletes. The U.S. Department of Education formally withdrew a proposed rule first drafted in April 2023 that would extend Title IX protections to protect transgender athletes’ right to play. The rule would have barred education institutions from denying student-athletes eligibility to participate on a male or female athletic team consistent with their gender identity.

❌ New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, vetoed legislation introduced after the drugging and killing of several gay men. In a veto statement, Hochul said the legislation would go against current finance regulations. The out New York state lawmaker who drafted the bill disputed Hochul's claims.

🚔 An L.A. police officer pleaded guilty this month to assaulting a trans man. Joseph Benza III, 36, admitted to an incident in February 2023 where he followed the young man in his car for nearly two miles before brutally attacking him. The officer then falsified his report to indicate the man was at fault, according to authorities. He faces 10 years in prison.

Onward and upward,

Alex Cooper

Editor-in-chief, Advocate.com

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