The State Board of Education has backed rules requiring student athletes to compete based on their sex assigned at birth.
It’s already illegal in Florida for transgender women and girls to participate in women’s sports at academic institutions. Now, the state board of education has affirmed Florida High School Athletic Association rules that double down on the prohibition.
During a meeting Wednesday, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz applauded the prohibition and criticized the Biden administration.
“Instead of simply preventing discrimination based on biological sex, the Biden administration is attempting to convince the country that biological sex no longer has any meaning. In Florida thanks to the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis. We're fighting back. And no matter what the federal government says we will continue to protect students privacy's in bathrooms and locker rooms and we will never allow boys to play girls sports,” he said.
The Biden administration has been critical of these policies and other legislation impacting transgender and nonbinary students in Florida, saying it violates Title IX anti-discrimination protections. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against the Biden Administration last month to try to block federal rulemaking about those protections.