USQ Cup in States with Anti-Trans Laws

US Quadball’s board of directors met on Wednesday, August 23, 2023 and passed with a unanimous vote to “reject USQ Cup host bids from states that have passed anti-trans legislation, which include but are not limited to bathroom bills and ‘license to discriminate’ bills, for the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 season.” This goes into effect immediately. Long term strategy for this motion will continue to be evaluated in the upcoming season. 

USQ’s advocacy team began conversations over the summer on the topic with the passing of Florida’s HB1521 earlier this year. This led to feedback gathering from the USQ LGBTQIA+ community - with emphasis on transgender and gender non-conforming member feedback - and discussions with members of USQ staff. This ultimately led to a discussion with the board and a vote.

Based on feedback from members of the community, there was a concern for safety when traveling to states with restrictive laws in place. In addition, there was a concern for athletes receiving medical care if injured while participating at a tournament if taken to a hospital. USQ Cup being the one event of the season that all teams travel to - USQ made the decision to focus on this event for this new policy. For 2023-24 season events and future events, USQ’s advocacy team will be taking feedback from BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women members when they register for USQ membership for safety measures they’d like to suggest be implemented by the league on-site at USQ hosted events.

USQ is committed to supporting our transgender and gender non-conforming community, and providing an inclusive environment for all of our athletes of all identities. We firmly believe that an individual's gender identity should be respected and recognized by all. 

States Impacted

In the United States, there are currently 12 states that have restrictive bathroom bills or license to discriminate bills geared towards medical treatment at hospitals for an injury. The following states are unable to host USQ Cup at this time due to this state restriction in place.

USQ’s advocacy team will continue to monitor and update this list, which will remain on USQ’s event bidding page.

For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 bidding cycle, once a state is awarded USQ Cup with a signed contract, USQ will keep the event in that state even if anti-trans legislation passes after the contract has been signed. If this does occur, USQ’s advocacy team will place additional emphasis on safety measures to be in place during the event. Based on feedback when USQ previously moved events out of states immediately after any anti-trans legislation came into effect, the move caused disruption to travel plans and other logistics for teams. In addition, USQ Cup is logistically challenging to move once plans are in place due to the event size, logistics, and funding requirements. In addition, these states are permitted to host other events including Quadballfest and National Qualifiers.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please reach out to membership@usquadball.org. If interested in joining USQ’s advocacy team, learn more here.

Sign up for our newsletter!