Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed a bill today banning transgender athletes from competing on girls or women's sports teams. Governor Reeves cited President Biden's January 20, 2021 Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (covered here) as a primary reason for the law being necessary in Mississippi.
The law requires interscholastic and intramural sports to designate participation eligibility based on student biological status. Biologically male individuals are then banned from participating in those sports designated as being for "females, women, or girls." The law applies to public K-12 schools, schools that are members of Mississippi High School Activities Association, public institutions of higher education, and higher education institutions belonging to NCAA, NAIA or NJCCA.
The law also provides a private cause of action. As such, a student "deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffers any direct or indirect harm as a result of a violation" may bring a legal claim against the school. The law does not specify the types of relief available for such an action.
The law is set to go into effect on July 1, 2021. We expect the ACLU or similar group to challenge the law in federal court and try to enjoin the law from going into effect. Idaho passed a similar law last year, which is currently blocked from going into effect by federal court order.
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