LGBTQ Civil Rights Coalition Condemns Anti-Trans Bill that Targets Student Athletes in Michigan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
DETROIT – Today, Michigan Senate Republicans introduced a discriminatory bill that would ban transgender youth from participating in high school sports based on their gender. An LGBTQ civil rights coalition including the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU) condemns Senate Bill 218 as bad policy based in stereotypes that attack trans student athletes.  
 
The LGBTQ civil rights coalition includes the ACLU, Equality Michigan, Grand Rapids Pride Center, OutFront Kalamazoo, Stand with Trans, and Transcend the Binary. 
 
Jay Kaplan, LGBT Rights Project staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, has this reaction: 
 
“Trans students participate in sports for the same reasons other young people do: to challenge themselves, improve fitness, and be part of a team. Excluding trans students from participation deprives them of opportunities available to their peers and sends the message they are not worthy of a full life. Senate Bill 218 not only discriminates against trans youth in ways that compromise their health, social and emotional development, and safety, but it violates state and federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection. Our policy makers should be focused on protecting Michigan's children by creating safe and welcoming environments, rather than launching baseless attacks to score political points.”