The largest neighborhood school district in Manhattan approved a resolution that could lead to a ban on transgender athletes competing in girls' sports, despite opposition from members of the New York City Council and transgender actor Elliot Page.
In an 8-3 vote, Community Education Council District 2 passed the controversial measure, according to the New York Post. The district reportedly controls schools from Manhattan's Lower East Side to its Upper East Side.
The Post reported that the meeting was packed with district parents, transgender activists, and city officials, many of whom spoke out against the resolution.
New York City Council member Erik Bottcher denounced the measure on behalf of himself and three state lawmakers.
"We are outraged that you're considering a resolution targeting transgender girls and sports," Bottcher said. "It is utterly shocking that such a regressive and harmful resolution is being proposed in the school district in the middle of Manhattan."
Despite the brouhaha, the measure is mainly symbolic, as it merely asks the city Department of Education (DOE) to review the existing policy, which allows trans athletes to compete in female sports.
According to the resolution, some members of the council said they want community input on New York City's Public School Athletic League guidelines from 2019 that allow trans participation.
The goal of the measure is to launch a review of the DOE's guidelines and add parental involvement to its decisions. The district is also calling for more transparency in the decision-making process.
Council member Maud Maron dismissed claims that the proposal was "transphobic," saying it was intended to start a conversation about fairness in women's sports.
"If we have a proper and real conversation, one of the outcomes could be that nothing changes and that we all discover that these guidelines are just perfect as they are," Maron reportedly said during Wednesday's meeting.
"But another one of the possibilities is that we realize that the excluded voices had something really important to offer, and they should have been heard from in the beginning."
Council member Gavin Healy, who opposed the measure, argued that a ban would force female athletes to prove their gender in order to compete.
"If you want to force students to prove their biological sex in order to participate in a sport, you are asking an invasive, a deeply intimate question about someone that they should not have to answer," Healy said.
"And what is next: the bathroom, health care?" he asked. "It's putting a target on students' backs. And so I will definitely vote against it, and I'm just ashamed to be up here tonight and having to debate this with you."