Pride is here and the US is celebrating in the worst way

The Republican Party, apparently now a staunch defender of women’s rights, is now making sure trans kids can’t play sports with their friends, writes Harriet Sinclair

Energy secretary Jennifer Granholm and Department of Energy chief of staff Tarak Shah raise the Pride flag in Washington on Wednesday (AP)

LGBT+ Pride month is upon us once again, and this year the US is celebrating in style with the rollback of trans rights on a state level.

Not content with a long-running obsession with who’s using which bathroom, those well-known women’s rights defenders the GOP have picked up the baton of “protecting” women’s sports, with numerous Republican governors signing bills banning trans women and girls from participating in school and college sports.

These are the same governors (I’m looking at you, Ron DeSantis, Kristi Noem and Bill Lee) who have all quietly signed bills restricting abortion access for the women whose bodies they so vehemently defend when it comes to participating in sporting activities.