Florida joins US states banning transgender girls from sports

Florida governor’s action comes at the start of ‘Pride Month’ in the US, officially a time to celebrate LGBTQ rights.

Florida on Tuesday became the largest US state to ban transgender women and girls from participating in school sports, part of a campaign in Republican-led statehouses assailed as provocative and discriminatory by equal rights activists. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who is closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, signed the bill into law on the first day of Pride Month, which celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community. DeSantis signed the bill at an event at a Christian school in Jacksonville where he was flanked by several teenage women athletes. He said the law was needed to ensure fairness for women participating in sports across the state.