LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA), the governing body for student high school athletes in Michigan, is “waiting for more clarification” on President Donald Trump’s newly signed executive order that takes away funds from schools that allow men to compete in women’s sports.
A spokesperson for the MHSAA told Michigan News Source that the organization is waiting for the clarification on how the executive order “conflicts with the Elliott-Larsen Act.”
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act.
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The Elliott-Larsen Act, passed in the mid-1970s, prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, public services and access to educational facilities, based on “religion, race, color, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, familial status, or marital status.”
On March 16, 2023, the Elliott-Larsen Act received updates after Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a series of amendments to the law which added “sexual orientation, gender identity or expression” to the list of prohibited discriminatory practices.
The NCAA reverses course.
The MHSAA may be in a holding pattern, but college sports are on board with the executive order.
Trump’s executive order rippled throughout the national sports scene, but by Thursday afternoon, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) updated its policy, effective immediately. The policy now states “a student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team.”
Transgender athletes in Michigan.
Trans athletes have flown below the radar in Michigan high school sports for the most part. “We have two transgender girls,” the MHSAA spokesman said. “We don’t track transgender boys because everyone can play boys sports in Michigan.”
He added that the individual school districts are the entities that do or do not allow boys to play on girls teams by applying for waivers. “Those waivers are good until we have further clarification on this,” he said.
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