RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina Republican lawmakers want to prevent transgender females from playing on female high school sports teams by adopting “biological participation requirements.”
Legislation filed Wednesday in the state House and Senate says “athletic teams or sports designated for females, women, or girls shall not be open to students of the male sex.” The “Fairness in Women’s Sports Act” says “a student’s sex shall be recognized based solely on the student’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.”
The legislation comes amid a conservative backlash against allowing transgender female athletes to play on women’s teams. Similar bills have been filed in states across the nation.
“This bill would protect females from being forced to play against biological males on sports teams, which can leave females with injuries and cheats them out of equal opportunities,” Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, said in a statement Wednesday. “Girls deserve a level playing field. Allowing males to compete in girls’ sports reverses nearly 50 years of advances for women.”
But Equality NC is calling the legislation a direct attack on the rights of LGBTQ+ youth that will make schools a less safe place for students.
“We are outraged to see lawmakers target our most vulnerable youth,” Kendra R. Johnson, executive director of Equality NC, said in a statement Wednesday. “Banning kids from playing sports because of who they are prevents them from having positive and formative experiences at school.”
The legislation has, so far, 28 of the 30 Senate Republicans and 32 of the 72 House Republicans, as sponsors. House and Senate Republicans will hold a joint news conference on Thursday to discuss the legislation.
Republicans hold a supermajority in the state Senate and now the House after Rep. Tricia Cotham announced Wednesday she was leaving the Democratic Party to join the GOP.
The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s current policy allows students to compete on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Republican lawmakers proposed a bill in 2021 to prevent transgender girls from playing on female sports teams, but it was ultimately thrown out because there were no examples of it actually being a problem.
Since then, supporters of a ban have pointed to one example in the state — the Cherokee County school board voted to forfeit girls volleyball games against a Macon County high school after a transgender athlete on the Macon team reportedly injured a player with a spike. The story was reported on by Fox News and generated national attention.
“A vast majority of North Carolinians agree it’s not safe or fair for biological boys to infringe on female sports,” Fitzgerald said. “A male’s belief about his gender doesn’t erase his physical advantages over female athletes, and every male on the podium displaces a deserving girl.”
The legislation also says men’s teams won’t be open to female students unless there is no comparable female team for a particular sport and that sport isn’t a contact sport.
The legislation creates a process where students who feel they‘ve been deprived of an athletic opportunity or suffered from a violation of the law can seek relief.
The bills say the State Board of Education will monitor middle and high schools for compliance with the law. If the state board finds a school in violation, it will report the school to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee.
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