Mississippi Today
Gov. Tate Reeves is hyper-focused on trans issues, but what’s the real impact on Mississippi?
Gov. Tate Reeves' most recent television commercial features him standing alone on a field intently cheering as his teenage daughter and her teammates run through their soccer drills.
“I love watching my daughter compete in soccer with and against some of the best female athletes around the country,” Reeves says in the ad. “I never thought I'd see the day where radical Democrats are working to give boys opportunities meant for girls, but here we are. As governor, I'll hold the line against this insanity in Mississippi.”
Recently the Republican governor posted on social media: “Madison is hopping with activity this beautiful summer morning. So many young females — like Maddie — working on their game. Mississippi has to have leaders that will protect our kids. As your governor, you know I will.”
Based on the time Reeves devotes to talking about transgender women and girls competing in sports, it sure looks like he believes it is the No. 1 issue of this campaign season.
What is the impact of the issue on Mississippians?
According to research done by the UCLA's Williams Institute, there are an estimated 9,600 transgender adults in Mississippi, comprising 0.41% of the population. The study estimates there are 2,400 trans children between the ages of 13 and 18 in Mississippi, comprising 1.2% of that population.
And how many of those Mississippians are trans females who are competing in girls' or women's sports in the state? Nobody — not the governor, not lawmakers who have passed legislation about the matter, not the Human Rights Campaign that advocates for LGBTQ+ rights — can name one trans athlete competing in sports that align with the athlete's gender identity.
A Newsweek article quotes Joanna Harper, a medical physicist who has written extensively about the issue of sports and trans athletes, as saying, “While we don't know the exact number of trans women competing in NCAA sports, I would be very surprised if there were more than 100 of them in the women's category.”
As a point of reference, the NCAA reported 226,212 females competed in college sports in 2021-22.
As the Newsweek article pointed out, based on the UCLA study, there are 1.3 million trans adults (0.5%) and 300,000 trans minors (1.4%) nationwide. Not all of those are trans women, and even a smaller, unknown percentage compete in women's sports.
In Mississippi, there have been instances of girls competing against boys in youth sports, but there are no examples of trans girls competing on girl's teams. It is not uncommon for boy's and girl's select soccer teams to compete against each other in “friendly” matches in preteen or early teen years. Such games, no doubt, have occurred throughout the state. But no one can account for the problem Reeves has focused so much time on.
“Gov. Reeves is desperate,” said Rob Hill, the state director of the Human Rights Campaign. “In the face of his plummeting poll numbers, he's going to do everything he can to avoid talking about his failed tenure as governor and his lack of vision and leadership for our future. Voters will see through these pathetic attacks on LGBTQ+ Mississippians and reject his attempt to marginalize transgender young people.”
Speaking of polls, according to a Siena College/Mississippi Today poll conducted earlier this year, 55% of respondents said they would only vote for a candidate who would expand Medicaid if elected. A strong majority 58% would only vote for a candidate who supports fully funding the Adequate Education Program to fund local school districts, and 58% would only vote for the candidate who supports eliminating the state's grocery tax.
Reeves is on the wrong side of those issues, based on the poll numbers. Siena did poll one trans-related policy issue in Mississippi and found about 35% said they would only vote for a candidate who supports “maintaining the ban on gender affirming care for transgender youth,” as signed into law by the governor, while 31% would only vote for a candidate opposed to maintaining the ban. The governor also talks extensively about that ban.
There are no public polls available of Mississippians' views on trans females competing in women's sports. But a recent national poll indicates strong opposition — around 70% — to trans females competing in women's sports. But other polls lower that number dramatically when people are told sports governing authorities are placing regulations on when trans females can compete.
It makes sense that poll results in Mississippi would be similar, if not even more one-sided.
At any rate, Reeves is spending an inordinate amount of time on an issue with an impact in the state that is, according to the numbers, hard to identify.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1896
MAY 18, 1896
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-1 in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation on railroads or similar public places was constitutional, forging the “separate but equal” doctrine that remained in place until 1954.
In his dissent that would foreshadow the ruling six decades later in Brown v. Board of Education, Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that “separate but equal” rail cars were aimed at discriminating against Black Americans.
“In the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens,” he wrote. “Our Constitution in color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law … takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://www.biloxinewsevents.com/?p=359301
Mississippi Today
Renada Stovall, chemist and entrepreneur
Renada Stovall sat on the back deck of her rural Arkansas home one evening, contemplating life when she had a life-altering epiphany…
“I gotta get out of these woods.”
She heard it as clear as lips to her ear and as deep as the trees surrounding her property. Stovall's job as a chemist had taken her all over the country. In addition to Arkansas, there were stints in Atlanta, Dallas and Reno. But she was missing home, her parents and friends. She also knew, she needed something else to do.
“I thought, what kind of business can I start for myself,” said Stovall, as she watered herbs growing in a garden behind her south Jackson home. Some of those herbs are used in her all-natural products. “I know when I lived in Reno, Nevada, where it's very hot and very dry, there really weren't products available that worked for me, my hair, and my skin suffered. I've got a chemistry degree from Spelman College. I took the plunge and decided to create products for myself.”
In 2018, Stovall's venture led to the creation of shea butter moisturizers and natural soaps. But she didn't stop there, and in December 2022, she moved home to Mississippi and got to work, expanding her product line to include body balms and butters, and shampoos infused with avocado and palm, mango butter, coconut and olive oils.
Nadabutter, which incorporates Renada's name, came to fruition.
Stovall sells her balms and moisturizers at what she calls, “pop-up markets,” across the state during the summer. She's available via social media and also creates products depending on what of her ingredients a customer chooses. “My turmeric and honey is really popular,” Stovall added.
“The all-natural ingredients I use are great for conditioning the skin and hair. All of my products make you feel soft and luscious. The shea butter I use comes from West Africa. It's my way of networking and supporting other women. And it's my wish that other women can be inspired to be self-sufficient in starting their own businesses.”
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1954
MAY 17, 1954
In Brown v. Board of Education and Bolling v. Sharpe, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the “separate but equal” doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson was unconstitutional under the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal treatment under the law.
The historic decision brought an end to federal tolerance of racial segregation, ruling in the case of student Linda Brown, who was denied admission to her local elementary school in Topeka, Kansas, because of the color of her skin.
In Mississippi, segregationist leaders called the day “Black Monday” and took up the charge of the just-created white Citizens' Council to preserve racial segregation at all costs.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
-
SuperTalk FM6 days ago
Martin Lawrence making 3 stops in Mississippi on comedy tour
-
Our Mississippi Home5 days ago
Beat the Heat with Mississippi’s Best Waterparks
-
SuperTalk FM2 days ago
State auditor cracking down on Mississippians receiving unemployment benefits
-
Our Mississippi Home6 days ago
Charlie’s U-Pik: Opening Soon for the Summer Season
-
Mississippi News Video4 days ago
Jackson has a gang problem
-
Kaiser Health News5 days ago
Medicaid ‘Unwinding’ Decried as Biased Against Disabled People
-
Local News1 day ago
Family files lawsuit after teen’s suicide in Harrison County Jail
-
Mississippi Today3 days ago
On this day in 1950