Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed legislation Thursday that banned transgender girls and women from competing in women’s sports at schools, colleges and universities in the state. The legislation will take effect immediately.
Iowa is the latest state to introduce similar legislation, along with 10 other Republican-led states to that have passed laws restricting transgender athletes from competing. Reynolds said the law is “a fairness issue” in February because of what she said are athletic advantages for transgender girls, per the Des Moines Register.
The law will require schools to list school-sponsored athletic events as either a men’s, women’s or coeducational sports. To compete in a women’s sport, an athlete’s gender must be the gender listed on the birth certificate of the student. The same stipulation is not mentioned for men’s sports.
The law also allows students to sue if they believe they’ve suffered "direct or indirect harm” based on a school violating the law. Other states adopting similar legislation have been embroiled in legal battles, and the new Iowa law appears to be on the same course.
