State Rep. Greg Markkanen

LANSING — Last Thursday, the Michigan State House of Representatives passed two bills, which would effectively ban transgender women and girls from participating in girls’ sports.

House Bill 4066 dictates that “A school district, intermediate school district, or public school academy … shall not knowingly allow individuals of the male sex to participate in any interscholastic athletic team or sport designated for participants of only the female sex.”

The bill clarifies that “sex” refers to “the biological indication of male or female, as listed on an individual’s original birth certificate that was issued at or near the time of the individual’s birth.”

The vote for 4066 was 58-46, with all Republicans voting in favor of the bill, and all Democrats voting against.

A second House Bill, 4469, alters the Elliott-Larsen civil rights act. This 1976 legislation prohibits discrimination based on factors such as race, sex, and religion. 4469 adds a new section to the Elliott-Larsen act, which states that K-12 educational institutions, which are subject to the anti-discriminatory laws of Title IX, are allowed to prevent transgender students from joining sports teams that don’t align with their sex at birth.

This means schools can keep a transgender boy from playing on a boy’s sports team, for example.

The vote for 4469 was 59-45, with all Republicans and one Democrat, Rep. Amos O’Neal, voting in favor of the alteration.

In a Facebook post announcing his support of the bill, State Representative Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock, who represents the Keweenaw area, wrote, “Men cannot magically become women. The opposite is also true. I stand with my colleagues in support of science.”

He also posted a graphic, with the captions, “I voted to protect girls’ sports” and “Preserving safety and opportunities for true female athletes”.

Following the passage of the bills in the State House, Equality Michigan (EQMI), an LGBTQIA+ advocacy group for youth in Michigan, released a statement condemning the actions of state Republicans.

“The bills, beyond openly encouraging discrimination against transgender young people, could also subject all Michigan kids to dangerous and invasive gender inspections and ridicule!” EQMI wrote. “Independent expert-bodies like the MHSAA are best equipped to create processes for fairness and access to opportunity in youth sports,” EQMI continued. “The MHSAA has already said there are zero trans girls with waivers to compete in winter and spring sports right now.”

The bills will now go to the Democrat-controlled State Senate, where they’re likely to fail. If they make it through the Senate, they will have to be signed into law by Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a long-time supporter of the LGBTQ community, and, thus is unlikely to support such legislation.