Florida governor signs ban of transgender athletes on first day of Pride MonthUSA TODAYon June 1, 2021 at 5:52 pm

U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat from St. Petersburg challenging DeSantis for governor next year, called it “cruel legislation … creating an issue where one doesn’t exist.”

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Tuesday a controversial ban on transgender athletes participating in women’s sports at the high school and college levels, seizing on a trend coursing through conservative states.

The Republican governor enacted the measure on the first day of Pride Month. But DeSantis denied that was a factor.

“It’s not a message to anything other than saying we’re going to protect fairness in women’s sports,” DeSantis said after signing the bill (SB 1028) at Jacksonville’s Trinity Christian Academy.

“We believe it’s important to have integrity in the competition and we think it’s important they’re able to compete on a level playing field. You’ve seen what happens when you don’t have that,” he added.

U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist, a Democrat from St. Petersburg challenging DeSantis for governor next year, called it “cruel legislation … creating an issue where one doesn’t exist.”

Indeed, when approved by the Republican-controlled state Legislature in April, lawmakers struggled to find any examples of transgender girls or women competing in Florida sports.

While similar measures have been filed in 30 states, an Associated Press survey earlier this year found only a few instances among hundreds of thousands of teenagers nationwide playing high school sports.

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