In March of 2021, Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves signed into law the Mississippi Fairness Act. The bill required public schools and universities to have athletes compete according to their sex assigned at birth rather than gender identity. The controversial piece of legislation has once again revitalized the debate of whether transgender athletes (at any competitive level) should be required to participate only in sporting competitions aligned with the sex assigned at birth. UFC athletes like Fallon Fox, a transgender female received wide spread criticism during the defeat of Tamikka Brents, where Brents suffered a concussion, a fractured orbital bone and skull. The 2021 Toyko Olympics, included the largest number of openly transgender athletes, while simultaneously, several states around the country proposed laws banning or restricting transgender athletes from participating in youth, high school and even college sports. Laws restricting the participation of transgender athletes have been introduced in 37 states, with at least seven of those states having enacted the laws. Federal judges have blocked several laws indicating that they violate the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Based on your understanding of the Equal Protection Clause, the Suspect Classification scales that the Supreme Court utilizes and various privacy issues that may be implicated, do you believe that laws restricting sporting competition to individual sex assignment at birth are in violation of the equal protection clause? Moreover, where on the Supreme Court's continuum would you place this classification, and why? (Strict Scrutiny, Mid-Level, Rationally Related)Following the submission of your response, please respond to the comments and positions of at least two other students in class. The goal is to engage in a dialogue with your classroom peers, consider responding to student(s) that do not share the same perspective as you.