RICHMOND, Va. — The governing body of high school sports in Virginia has sanctioned the participation of transgender athletes at the state’s 313 high schools, on the condition they undergo gender reassignment surgery.
The Virginia High School League’s executive committee approved the motion Wednesday by a unanimous vote.
The league had received inquiries from four schools about the eligibility of transgender athletes competing in sports consistent with their gender identity, reported The Richmond Time-Dispatch.
But to comply with the league’s policy, the athlete will have to make physiological changes, too.
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The student must have undergone gender reassignment surgery, and hormonal therapy such that it minimizes gender-related advantages in sports competition.
As defined by the league, a transgender student is defined as is one “whose gender identity differs from the student’s birth sex.” It continues that gender “identity is a person’s deeply felt internal sense of being male or female.”
According to the league, 18 states have enacted similar legislation.
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