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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Catholic group has urged support for a proposal requiring transgender student athletes to compete based on their sex at birth.
The Omaha World-Herald (http://bit.ly/1Z3hU0D ) reports that competing proposals on transgender students' participation in high school sports are up for consideration by Nebraska School Activities Association member schools this month.
Nebraska Catholic Conference on Monday "strongly urged" all NSAA member schools to vote in favor of a bylaw amendment requiring students to participate in sports based on their sex at birth.
"The Nebraska Catholic Conference supports this proposal, and diocesan high schools that are members of the NSAA will be voting in favor of it," said the group, which represents Nebraska's three Catholic bishops.
A second bylaw amendment would determine gender based on a student's current birth certificate, a document that can be amended after a gender change.
Both drafts will be taken up by the NSAA's six districts during meetings across the state on Wednesday and Jan. 13.
If three of the six districts approve either of the proposals, a general assembly of the NSAA membership will consider those bylaw changes in April.
There, the proposal would need a two-thirds majority vote to pass and would go into effect at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.
The NSAA itself has been working to draft a state policy since this summer, when the organization was told that two transgender students, reportedly from the Omaha area, had expressed interest in playing winter sports.
The organization's proposed a draft policy would put the initial decision to let transgender students participate in high school sports in the hands of parents and local school districts.
If the NSAA board policy passes during its Jan. 14 meeting, it would take effect immediately, executive director Jim Tenopir said. A bylaw change, however, would supersede anything decided by the NSAA board.
"I think our efforts are based on providing opportunities for all students," Tenopir said. "The policy gives every school the opportunity to determine whether they will support the participation of transgender students in their schools."
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Information from: Omaha World-Herald, http://www.omaha.com
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