Gabrielle Lamontagne

Please DO NOT pass this bill. Transgender women tend to actually be weaker than cis women in sporting events, because their bodies are not used to the ways in which estrogen effects the body and other hormones. THERE IS NO REASON to exclude them from participating in sports that fit the gender that makes them feel comfortable, especially in educational and youth settings. Being a young human with hormones is hard enough. I am a cisgender woman and I was awkward and gawky and terrible at sports anyhow as a teenager, and now I'm not the healthiest/fittest person. If a young person finds an activity that he/she/they enjoys, who are we as adults to stop them from enjoying said sports? A team of their peers should be taught to respect them as humans - just as the teens in "Remember the Titans" came to the game with prejudices and learned how to treat their peers with respect and compassion. The same can be said for Prison/Jail arrangements. These structures of our judiciary system have enough problems without adding in forcing people to go to whichever prison aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. Honestly, this seems like the definition of Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Often, transgender people look like the gender they identify with - which means a man with facial hair being in a women's prison. People entering prison are already subjected to enough "dehumanization" practices as it is - that's why we don't need to add to that pile (yes, we do need massive prison reform, thank you for noticing my position on this). Do NOT pass this Discriminatory and Dehumanizing bill.