Q Toon: Intermural Drill

If you've ever considered the possibility that there might be some limit to how boneheaded our politicians can be, consider this news item from the Rapid City Journal of South Dakota:

A proposal by a state lawmaker could require that visual inspection be used as part of a process to officially determine a person's gender in South Dakota, including for high school athletes.
The battle over how to officially determine someone's gender arises from a controversy over whether transgender high school students can declare their own gender when participating in sports.
A high school athletic group enacted a policy last year that allows students to decide for themselves which gender group they will compete with. ... The proposal from Rep. Roger Hunt, R-Brandon, would rely on official birth certificates and visual inspections for determining gender rather than allowing people to decide and declare their gender on their own.

You had already guessed that Hunt was a Republican, hadn't you?

Only a dozen or so states have official policies either allowing or restricting transgendered students' participation in school sports.

In Colorado, for example, a student doesn’t have to sit through a hearing but is advised to submit documentation so the school can “render a decision,” like written statements from parents or friends or evidence of hormone therapy. In California, the language of a law passed in 2013 suggests the student need only say what their gender identity is and which team they want to play on, an approach that has drawn controversy. 

If you are wondering whether trans athletes are welcome in the state where you live, but you don't live in South Dakota, Colorado, or California, transathlete.com provides a state-by-state list of policies, or lacks thereof, regarding participation by transgendered students in public school athletics.