Senate panel passes bill to ban transgender girls from girls sports in NC

"I say 15, that's too high," said Rep. Vickie Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican and one of the bill's primary sponsors. When asked why the law is needed if the state's high school association already has procedures in place, she said: "The number is 15. We made 15 wrong decisions."

"It would be unfair to our students if we ignored some biological realities that have measurable impact on outcomes in sports," said Sen. Kevin Corbin, a Macon County Republican and one of the primary sponsors of the legislation.

A House committee will debate the its version of the bill on Wednesday morning. Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer who competed against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas and has become a prominent voice for banning transgender women from women's sports, is expected to be at the legislature Wednesday, Sawyer said.

"This bill is not about being anti-trans. This bill is about being pro-woman," she said.

But several public speakers told the committee that the bill would be detrimental to some transgender youth.

"This law's clear purpose is not to protect or support women and girls, but instead to discriminate against trans girls and teens and exclude them from participating in sports," said Cat Salemi, a counselor who works with transgender and non-binary patients. "Laws like this send a clear message to trans people that we are not accepted, not wanted and not welcome."

Current rules in North Carolina allow transgender athletes to play sports based on their gender identification, though it requires a lengthy process, including medical information.

There are currently about 15 known transgender high school student-athletes in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. There are 180,000 student-athletes who participated statewide last year.

"I can honestly tell you that, to date, there has been little to no adverse impact from these students participating on our program," NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker told WRAL previously.

North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt, a Republican, spoke on behalf of the measure during Tuesday's committee hearing. Truitt's daughter won a state title in indoor pole vault in 2020.

"If we are truly to maintain a level playing field in women's sports, biological sex must supersede gender preference," Truitt said. "We can respect individual gender preferences without reconstructing Title IX to inherently disadvantage women. But biological sex must be the basis for sporting events for our high school athletes."

Sen. Jay Chaudhuri, a Wake County Democrat, and some of the public speakers said there are larger issues impacting students and schools that the committee should be concerned about. One parent outlined homelessness, poverty and food insecurity statistics for children in the state.

"This is not the issue we should be talking about," said Katie Jenifer, an attorney who said she had a transgender daughter. "This is ridiculousness. Trans athletes have participated in sports since the '70s. There is no mass takeover of sports. It would have happened in 40 years if so."

But supporters said girls must be protected.

"The only fair solution is to ensure that that only biological females compete in women's sports," said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition. "Allowing males to compete effectively spells the end of women's sports."

The bill, as originally written, would have prohibited girls from playing on boys football or wrestling teams, though sponsors said that was not the intent of the legislation and it can be corrected through the legislative process. The bill was amended in committee to allow girls to play on all boys teams.

The bill is scheduled to go to the Senate rules committee next and could reach the full chamber as soon as the end of this week.