Massachusetts’ Trans Sports Bill: Betrayal or Gambit?

Breaking down the shocking news out of Massachusetts.

Yesterday, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a bill to ban transgender students from participating in the sports teams that align with their gender identities. Or did they? While that was the Republican-proposed bill’s original language, Democrats, who control the Massachusetts House, added an amendment. The amendment mandates a state analysis and report on the participation of trans athletes in school sports, and after this review has been completed, the legislature must then vote again to implement its findings.

Of course, this is worrying. A chamber with 133 Democrats and a measly 25 Republicans has passed a bill that can lead to the banning of trans athletes in school sports. Advocates have warned that it may legitimise conservative arguments pertaining to trans athletes, giving them and their expressed concerns the light of day in a progressive space that largely ignores them. Moreover, I can’t see how the threat of a ban looming over the heads of Massachusetts’ trans kids will do anything but scare this already vulnerable population. This is especially true because it’s happening in such a progressive state, and this news will no doubt add to the trans community’s fears that the Democrats will go the way of the UK’s Labour Party and abandon trans people altogether.

It smells like betrayal—but something doesn’t quite add up. After all, only a handful of Democrats at the national level—with House Democrats Seth Moulton, Tom Suozzi, Vicente Gonzalez, and Henry Cuellar (under indictment for taking bribes from Azerbaijan to suppress the US’ response to their human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh; so yeah, clearly not a moral authority here), and California Governor Gavin Newsom being the most prominent—have turned against trans people on the issue of sports. Although the vote count for the Massachusetts bill was not published, for it to have passed—and assuming every member of the legislature was present for the vote—at least 56 Democrats, or 42% of the Democrats in the chamber, must have voted for it. That figure just isn’t in line with what we’ve been seeing nationwide.

So, I’m going to play devil’s advocate here. I’m going to base the forthcoming analysis on the assumption the passage of this bill wasn’t malicious, but a calculated gambit meant to help the trans community. In no way am I saying this assumption is correct, but I find it more likely to be the case than an all-out betrayal.

Let’s start with an analysis of the report the bill commissions. This report is meant to analyse the effects of a possible ban on student athletes and provides for a review of “safeguards that may alleviate safety concerns related to physical health” and the impacts on “behavioural and physical health impacts related to [the ban], anticipated changes to the well-being of [Massachusetts] students and the current practice of other states.”

I believe the first point, more than anything else, is meant to address the right-wing talking point of “trans girls are injuring girls and therefore making it unsafe.” Now, while this claim is false and relies solely on a few anecdotes for corroboration, studies that prove it wrong are essentially nonexistent. However, this report presents an opportunity to conduct a statewide study, one that will be larger than most (if not all) studies concerning trans sports. This report should, in theory, discredit the annoying safety argument, and that is a net positive.

The other point, the one that calls for an investigation into the impacts of a possible ban, is similar. Cis kids don’t benefit, mentally or physically, from trans kids being banned from sports. And because said trans kids will lose the important social aspect of sports and the benefits of the physical activity sports bring, the ban will be a net negative on the behavioural and physical health and mental well-being of Massachusetts students. On top of this, I can’t imagine the friends these trans kids have made through the teams they’re on will be pleased at the exclusion of their friend. This report will bring these effects to light, which is another positive.

Most importantly, this study will be the first governmental investigation into the participation of trans kids in sports. Of course, the loudest transphobic voices will try to discredit it, but that won’t work for everyone. I know a lot of people who would be willing to listen to something like it, and so its existence may be the key to turning the tide against worsening public opinion on this issue. Plus, another vote would still have to be held to implement the results of the report, so if it comes to it, the ban can still be voted down (or vetoed by Massachusetts’ Governor Maura Healey, who is openly lesbian) without ever taking effect.

And the response of the ban’s original sponsor, Republican John Gaskey? After the passage of the bill, he told The Boston Globe he believed the Democratic amendment is “a way to bury [the ban] and make sure that nobody ever gets this on the record.” That should tell you everything you need to know.