South Carolina is one step closer to banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, with the State House passing a bill requiring them to compete on the basis assigned to them. gender at birth.
The House of Representatives of South Carolina passed the ‘Save Women’s Sports Bill’ 82-28 on Tuesday, despite the 1,000 amendments proposed by the The Democrats and a marathon debate that spans eight hours.
De Republican The majority of the House passed the bill Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. – after a tornado alert saw the room evacuated.
The bill has yet to go to the Senate, which is Republican-run, for consideration before it becomes law. The bill means that athletes must compete as the gender they are assigned on their birth certificate, not the gender they identify as.
Many states have tried to pass legislation banning transgender athletes in 2021, as the subject gained appeal after UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas, 22, made headlines after winning the 500-yard freestyle in Atlanta in a time of 4 minutes, 33.24 seconds on last month.
Many critics argued that she had a biological advantage over other women because she competed as a man for three collegiate years. However, Thomas competed within the NCAA rules and had been on hormone therapy for more than a year.
More than a dozen states have passed legislation banning transgender athletes from women’s sports. Tuesday, South Carolina moves to join the others as it passes the Save Women’s Sports Bill after eight hours of debate. The bill will move to the Senate led by GOP, where it is expected to pass
Many states tried to pass legislation in 2021 after UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, 22, (left) made headlines when she dominated the pool
Since the end of the NCAA Championship, several states and politicians have expressed concern about the future of women’s sports and trans-female athletes.
Republican Speaker Jay Lucas on Tuesday rejected nearly 600 amendments, saying they were almost identical with only minor changes such as changing the names of schools in each proposal.
After those statements, the Democrats slowed down even more, with the author of most of the changes saying it stopped a victory of the House for several hours.
“Today we saw so much of my colleague stand up for people who do not often have a voice,” said Representative John King, a Rock Hill Democrat.
Bill sponsor Representative Ashley Trantham took the stage just before the vote, thanking the people who have fought for two years to pass the bill in South Carolina. It failed in a House committee in 2021.
“It’s because of your actions that South Carolina is one step closer to saving women’s sports,” the Republican from Pelzer said.
Democrats said Republicans should be ashamed of distinguishing themselves from people who already treat much of society badly.
‘Leave this transgender child alone. “There are less than one percent of them,” said Representative Krystle Matthews, a Ladson Democrat.
Some Democrats’ amendments would make substantial changes to the bill, such as allowing a public high school to relinquish its requirements or requiring women’s sports to have the same number of assistant coaches or facilities as men’s teams.
Others would do things like rename the proposal to the “Discrimination Capital of the United States Act” or name individual schools or allow school bands to play only at sports events for women.
Supporters of the bill remained silent on Tuesday so as not to prolong the debate. One amendment has been passed that would create wrestling teams for girls in high schools.
Debate was also delayed for nearly an hour after the House of Representatives was evacuated for a tornado warning for Columbia.
About a dozen other states have already passed similar legislation, and transgender athletes have become a problem in midterm campaigns in states like Pennsylvania. But Republicans are not locked in, with GOP governors in Indiana and Utah banning vetoes in their states.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster recently criticized the NCAA for blocking states with anti-transgender legislation from hosting championships.
“I think the NCAA needs to keep an eye on its own affairs,” McMaster said when asked how he felt about the NCAA issuing a statement in which it strongly opposes incidents in a discriminatory manner. environment.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster blasted the NCAA, which recently announced it would brace states that had anti-trans legislation from hosting championships. The governor said, ‘I think the NCAA should consider its own affairs.’ If the Save Women’s Sports Bill passes in the Senate, it’s going to her last office at McMaster’s office to be signed into law
The NCAA said it “firmly and unequivocally” supports transgender athletes who have the opportunity to compete in sports.
The Human Rights Campaign – the largest LBGTQ + organization – condemned the adoption of the bill in the House, and wrote in a statement on Wednesday: ‘Today, the Human Rights Campaign … of participating in school sports in accordance with their gender identity . The bill is now going to the Senate for consideration. ‘
The organization claimed that ‘hypocrisy is completely visible’ because legislators ‘hurried’ [the bill] by meeting the South Carolina House of Representatives ‘April 10 legislative deadline.’
“Although the bill is entitled, ‘Save the Women’s Sports Act,’ the South Carolina House has done everything except create an equal footing for women in sports,” it said in a statement.
‘If this is about preserving equality for women, why did the House vote in favor of an amendment that would guarantee equal funding for sports for men and women in South Carolina? This is in addition to the rejection of an amendment requiring women’s sports to have the same number of assistant coaches and facilities as men’s teams. ‘
The organization also claimed that the state legislature ‘did not consider the serious consequences’ of the Save Women’s Sports Bill, as nearly 50 percent of LBGTQ + youths attempted suicide in the past year, it said.
South Carolina is set to BAN biological men competing in women’s sports
