YouTube personality and LGBTQ+ rights activist Jazz Jennings has opened up about transgender sports bans in the US.
Jazz Jennings has made a statement addressing the transgender sports bans sweeping the US.
In a social media post, the online star introduced herself and call out the bans being voted in.
“My name is Jazz and I’m transgender. When I was eight years old I was banned from playing girls travel soccer,” Jennings told viewers at the start of the video.
The activist went on to explain how she had been personally affected by a ban on transgender athletes as a child and described feeling “devastated”.
However, as the video states, after two years Jennings was pleased a trans-inclusive policy was created.
She adds: “People argue that transgender women have competitive advantages. This is not true. My personal experience and statistics prove this.
“Today 30 plus states, including Florida, are trying to ban transgender people in sports. These bills are discriminatory and have no merit.”
The video rendering with Jennings’ urging viewers to check if their state is proposing anti-trans laws and to protest them if possible.
Jenning’s posted the video to Twitter in a tweet which read: “When I was 8 years old, I was banned from my playing girls soccer for over two years.
“The ban made me feel excluded, had no merit and negatively affected me and my family. ”
You can watch the video here or below.
When I was 8 years old, I was banned from my playing girls soccer for over two years. The ban made me feel excluded, had no merit and negatively affected me and my family.
Go to the link below to take action and combat these bills before they pass 🏳️⚧️https://t.co/11SiaPlRwZ pic.twitter.com/Lz1mxpTYA3
— Jazz Jennings (@JazzJennings__) March 29, 2021
There has been an increase of Republicans voting in favour of sports bans targeting trans youth.
Tennessee has become the third state to ban trans athletes from competing in middle and high school sports.
Under the new transphobic Tennessee HB3 legislation, students will now have to show “proof” of their sex by showing their birth certificate.
If a student cannot provide a birth certificate then another form of proof will have to be presented.
Governor of Tennessee, Bill Lee, took to Twitter to explain why he passed the law.
“I signed the bill to preserve women’s athletics and ensure fair competition,” he wrote.
“This legislation responds to damaging federal policies that stand in opposition to the years of progress made under Title IX and I commend members of the General Assembly for their bipartisan work.”
The ACLU of Tennessee executive director, Hedy Weinberg, slammed the governor’s decision in a statement on Friday.
“Governor Lee’s rush to discriminate against transgender children is appalling,” she wrote.
“Transgender people have the right to participate in sports consistent with who they are, just like everyone else. Denying this right is pure discrimination.”
There are currently 35 bills that are targeting trans rights. Many of them are trying to stop transgender athletes from participating in sporting teams that align with how they self-identify, according to Insider.
Mississippi was the first state to pass a law banning transgender girls and women from school sports with the “Mississippi Fairness Act”.
Bill 2536, which exists under the title “provide that schools designate teams by biological sex”, aims to make it state binding that educational institutions must segregate sports teams based on biological sex.
Arkansas and South Dakota have also passed their own transphobic bills.
Related: Tennessee becomes the third state to pass bill targeting trans youth
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