West Virginia
Kentucky and West Virginia move to limit transgender therapies
At the very least 11 US states have positioned restrictions or outright bans on gender-affirming therapies for kids.
Two states within the southern United States have superior legal guidelines limiting entry to gender-affirming therapies for transgender youngsters, as a part of a wave of Republican-led laws critics decry as discriminatory and harmful.
Kentucky and West Virginia be part of no less than 9 different states in implementing restrictions on therapies that main medical teams just like the American Academy of Pediatrics say will be crucial and even life-saving for transgender youngsters.
However proponents of the restrictions argue that individuals underneath the age of 18 are too younger to bear gender-affirming therapies, which may vary from measures like puberty blockers – which pause sexual improvement – to hormone remedy and surgical procedure.
The primary of Wednesday’s legal guidelines got here in Kentucky, the place a closely Republican legislature used its supermajority to override an earlier veto from Democratic Governor Andy Beshear.
Following a vote of 29 to eight within the state Senate, Kentucky’s Home of Representatives handed the legislation alongside get together traces, 76 to 23. The legislation additionally forces medical doctors to halt companies for sufferers already present process remedy, until a sudden finish to care will hurt the affected person. In such circumstances, the legislation requires medical doctors to determine a timeline to finish the remedy. These restrictions are set to take impact in three months.
Kentucky’s invoice may even bar colleges from holding discussions of sexual orientation and gender id, whereas academic districts should craft insurance policies to make sure college students use bogs comparable to the gender on their delivery certificates.
The controversy in Kentucky’s state Capitol grew heated because the vote neared. State police later reported that 19 individuals had been arrested for trespassing after protesting from the Home gallery.
“We’re denying households, their physicians and their therapists the best to make medically-informed choices for his or her households,” Karen Berg, a Democratic state senator, stated in opposition to the invoice. Her 24-year-old baby was a transgender activist who died by suicide in December.
In the meantime, supporters of the invoice say it protects youngsters from enterprise gender-affirming therapies they may remorse as adults.
“We can’t permit individuals to proceed down the trail of fantasy, to the place they’re going to finish up 10, 20, 30 years down the highway and discover themselves depressing from choices that they made after they had been younger,” Shane Baker, Republican State Consultant, stated at a rally.
In praising the veto override, David Partitions, govt director of The Household Basis, stated the invoice places “coverage in alignment with the reality that each baby is created as a male or feminine and deserves to be beloved, handled with dignity and accepted for who they are surely.”
On Wednesday in West Virginia, Republican Governor Jim Justice signed his state’s ban on gender-affirming therapies for kids.
The legislation, set to take impact in January 2024, does embody a uncommon exception: permitting prescribed puberty blockers and hormone remedy for youngsters proven to be susceptible to self-harm. In these circumstances, sufferers will need to have parental consent and a analysis of extreme gender dysphoria from two medical doctors.
West Virginia has the very best per capita price of transgender younger individuals within the US, in response to a 2017 examine from the Williams Institute, a assume tank on the UCLA Faculty of Legislation.
The legal guidelines in each Kentucky and West Virginia be part of a wave of Republican laws throughout the nation that critics denounce as an assault on LGBTQ+ rights. And they’re each prone to be challenged in courtroom.
Federal judges have already blocked the enforcement of legal guidelines proscribing gender-affirming therapies in Alabama and Arkansas, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky has already introduced it intends “to take this combat to the courts”.
Practically two dozen states across the US are at present contemplating restrictions on gender-affirming care.
West Virginia
Cincinnati Withdraws from Dual Meet Against West Virginia, Sparking Controversy
The University of Cincinnati has withdrawn from its scheduled dual meet against West Virginia scheduled for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in Morgantown, West Virginia. The meet was scheduled to be the teams’ second as Big 12 opponents after splitting the victories last season in a two-day affair hosted by Cincinnati. There, the Bearcats won the women’s meet 241-112 and the Mountaineers won the men’s meet 162-191.
West Virginia posted the news of the cancellation on their Instagram page, with assistant coach Sydney Pickrem calling it a “huge disappointment for our swimmers” on her story, adding “Let’s continue to build this sport & always strive to achieve the highest level, especially when we RACE.”
Individuals close to the West Virginia program are telling SwimSwam that Cincinnati forfeited the meet because of a dispute over whether to wear technical racing suits. West Virginia wanted to wear the suits and Cincinnati did not, and felt that this would put them at a disadvantage.
Neither coaching staff took the opportunity to dispute that narrative.
Cincinnati head coach Mandy Commons-DiSalle is currently the president of the Board of Directors of the Collegiate Swimming & Diving Coaches’ Association of America (CSCAA)
Historically, collegiate dual meets have been raced almost-exclusively in ‘practice suits,’ with tech suits reserved for championship meets and mid-season invitationals. More recently, however, teams have taken to wearing their fast-suits for every meet as a way to more specifically prepare for the racing that will take place in those championships. That includes the Arizona State Sun Devils, who used the tactic en route to last year’s NCAA Men’s Championship in swimming & diving.
These suits improve times by reducing drag, providing muscle compression, and allowing athletes to maintain a better posture in the water.
West Virginia’s official Instagram account “liked” a comment by program alum Logan McFadden saying that “Somebody got scared and doesn’t want to come to town anymore.”
At last year’s Big 12 Championship meet, Cincinnati’s first in the conference, the Bearcats finished ahead of West Virginia in both meets. On the women’s side, Cincinnati was 4th with 918.50 points and West Virginia was 6th with 699 points. On the men’s side, Cincinnati was 4th with 1285.50 points and West Virginia was 5th with 1138.50 points.
West Virginia
West Virginia looks to move forward after change in defensive leadership
West Virginia has a new defensive coordinator after head coach Neal Brown elected to move from Jordan Lesley following a 4-4 start to the season.
Lesley, who had been with the Mountaineers since 2019, had served as the leader of the defense since the 2020 season when he was elevated to the role after the dismissal of Vic Koenning.
The assistant shared the role the first season with co-defensive coordinator Jahmile Addae, and the unit finished No. 21 in scoring defense in 2020 allowing just 20.5 points per game and that total was even higher in total defense at No. 4 nationally surrendering just 291.4 yards per contest.
In 2021 Lesley took over full-time and the unit ranked 44th nationally permitting 23.85 points per game and at No. 37 nationally yielding 350.2 yards per contest. That took a dip in 2022 as the defense was at 116th in scoring defense giving up 32.9 points per game and 98th in total yards with 412.1 per contest.
Things improved last season as West Virginia was at 64th in scoring defense at 26.2 per game and 68th in yards at 380.8 but so far this year it had been a struggle for the defense.
West Virginia is 97th in scoring defense giving up 28.4 points per game and 84th in total defense. The Mountaineers were perched at 114th in passing defense and struggled mightily in that department for most of the season to date. Those issues prompted Brown to make the decision make a change.
“I met with Coach Lesley this morning and informed him that we are making a change at the defensive coordinator position. I’m very thankful for the investment Jordan and his family have made in West Virginia football. Jordan has been a key part of my staff for almost a decade,” Brown said in a statement.
The decision means that West Virginia will owe Lesley the remainder of his $775,000 salary for this season as well as $800,000 for next season. The Mountaineers also could offset the payment amount with any future employment based on what he earns at his next stop.
Now, the focus is on the final four games of the season with inside linebackers coach Jeff Koonz assuming the role atop the defense and the Mountaineers will look to make the most of their remaining opportunities.
Koonz has served as a co-defensive coordinator during his time at Cincinnati and now will have a chance to prove that he is capable in the role for the remainder of this season.
“These decisions are never easy, but I’m confident this change is in the best interest of our program and puts us in the best position to finish strong. Our players have a tremendous opportunity in front of them, and I know they will give their all for WVU. Jeff Koonz will step up and serve as the defensive coordinator moving forward. I know he and our entire staff will do everything they can to help us succeed,” Brown said.
West Virginia
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