This week we'll take a closer look at the Inclusive Athletic Attire Act. Three states have passed this type of legislation in the past two years. What is it? What lead up to it? And what could it mean for the future of sports inclusivity?
Some background
Back in 2019, you may have heard the name Noor Alexandria Abukaram. This young woman was a cross-country runner at Northview High School in Ohio. After having just ran her 5K PR, she found out her hijab violated uniform regulations and was disqualified from the race. At the time, Abukaram told ABC “I was completely humiliated by, like, everybody knowing that I just ran my PR, and it wasn’t on record.”
This was not the first race Noor had run that year, and in every previous race she wore her hijab with no objections or disqualifications. Unbeknownst to her or her coach, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) required runners to fill out a waiver before being able to make modest dress changes to their uniform.
Once Noor went to college, she realized how strange and othering her high school experience was, because the NCAA does not have a rule similar to OHSAA's. After this, Abukaram started Let Noor Run - a campaign to raise awareness about discrimination in sports and fight for legislative changes to protect freedom of religious expression for athletes.
This conversation is not being held only at US high schools, it has an audience on the global stage. Last year, at the Tokyo Olympics, the German women’s gymnastics team competed in full-body unitards. While playing beach handball, the Norwegian women’s team was fined for wearing the same uniform as the men’s team instead of the mandated, less modest bikinis for female players.
The Ohio Inclusive Athletic Attire Act
Senate Bill 181, or Noor's Law, was signed into law in February of this year. As we mentioned earlier, before this bill, high school athletes in Ohio had to receive written permission from the Ohio High School Athletic Association to wear religious garments while competing. The passage of Noor's Law removes this requirement. Students are now guaranteed the right to wear religious apparel during competition without needing to obtain a waiver or receive permission in advance.
Noor's law defines “wearing religious apparel” to mean “the wearing of headwear, clothing, jewelry, or other coverings while observing a sincerely held religious belief.” The bill prohibits a board of education, governing body of a non-public school, an interscholastic athletic conference, or the Ohio High School Athletic Association from interfering with a student wearing religious apparel during participation in interscholastic athletic competitions or other extracurricular activities.
Regulation of wearing religious apparel is allowed, under the bill, "if a legitimate danger to participants is identified due to wearing religious apparel." If a danger is identified, the student must be offered reasonable accommodations that would allow them to wear the religious apparel and eliminate the danger posed.
The law also creates a civil action against any individual or entity that interferes with a student wearing religious apparel during participation in athletics or extracurricular activities. This "entity" can include school districts, interscholastic conferences, organizations that regulate interscholastic athletics, and their employees. If a lawsuit is filed, a school district, its board members, and employees may still be entitled to immunity under Ohio law at this time.
The legislation took effect on May 30, 2022.
"Senate Bill 181 passed unanimously in the State Senate today! This is the end of the beginning, SB 181 will now move to the house to be debated and voted on again then Insha'Allah signed by the governor to become a law! Also, peep my newest accessory. Not only did the president of the senate co-sponsor the bill today, but also gifted me his gavel that finalized the vote for SB 181 to move out of the senate." -Noor Abukaram
The Illinois Inclusive Athletic Attire Act
Last year, the Inclusive Athletic Attire Act was passed in Illinois. This bill allows all student athletes to modify their uniforms in keeping with their religion, culture, or personal preferences for modesty. Like Ohio, students used to have to seek special permission to wear a hijab, undershirt, or leggings with their uniforms. This bill states that, "At a minimum, any modification of the athletic or team uniform must not interfere with the movement of the student or pose a safety hazard to the student or to other athletes or players." It then describes the modification of headgear that is permitted as:
- Black, white, the predominant color of the uniform, or the same color for all players on the team
- Does not cover any part of the face
- Is not dangerous to the player or to the other players
- Has no opening or closing elements around the face and neck
- Has no parts extruding from its surface
The bill also states that the governing board of each school district, public university, and community college district must allow a student athlete to modify his or her athletic or team uniform for the purpose of modesty in clothing or attire that is in accordance with the requirements of his or her religion.
The Maryland Inclusive Athletic Attire Act
This year, Maryland also passed the Inclusive Athletic Attire Act. Their law, HB515, requires the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, governing bodies of public institutions of higher education, county education boards, and community college trustee boards to allow student athletes to modify athletic/team uniforms to conform to their religious or cultural requirements, or preferences for modesty. Allowed modifications can include head coverings, undershirts, or leggings worn for religious reasons.
Like the Illinois bill, modifications must not interfere with the student athlete’s movement or pose safety hazards to themselves or others. Uniform modifications must also not “cover any part of the face, unless required for the safety of the wearer.” And, the bill states that “any modification to the uniform or headgear must be black, white, the predominant color of the uniform, or the same color worn by all players on the team.”
Maaria Mozaffar, director of advocacy and policy at the Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, had this to say about the bill: “We wrote a legislation to allow them to modify their uniform based on their cultural religious preferences and physical comfort, so this is applicable to boys and girls, different faith communities, different physical preferences.”
I'll be interested to see where this trend goes!
Cover Photo byyudhisthira lkonUnsplash
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