Citing dangers posed by transgender athletes playing girls sports and opportunities for biological girls in sports, Republican lawmakers in North Carolina announced a bill that would require athletes to play based on their sex at birth.
At least 20 states have banned transgender athletes from playing high school sports according to their gender identity. North Carolina could become the next.
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"This is needed legislation," said Sen. Joyce Krawiec, a Forsyth County Republican. "And even though we have a few examples of this already taking place, it's important that we establish fair standards for our women's sports."
The Fairness in Women's Sports Act was filed in the House and the Senate on Wednesday. The bill, which was among a flurry of transgender-focused proposals filed this week, has broad GOP support and the backing of former UNC women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell, who attended a news conference promoting the bill Thursday.
The bill, as written, would not allow girls to play "contact sports," such as football. Sen. Vickie Sawyer, a primary sponsor, said that was not intentional and could be changed as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.
All 30 Republican senators are sponsors of the legislation, which would be enough to override a potential gubernatorial veto. In the House, 42 Republicans (out of 72) are currently sponsors of the legislation.
It says that “a student's sex shall be recognized based solely on the student's reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” It says that no males can play on women’s teams and that no women can play on men’s teams unless “there is no comparable female team for a particular sport and the sport is not a contact sport.”
"When we talk about men identifying as a woman to play in sports, we so hear about how we are accommodating their feelings, but there is a big part missing from that conversation," said Sawyer, an Iredell County Republican. "What about the woman? What I don't hear about is the physical health of a young woman when she chooses to play sports."
The Biden administration has proposed new rules that would allow schools to make decisions about transgender athletes, but not allow the type of blanket ban that North Carolina is seeking to install, the Associated Press reported. The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a West Virginia transgender middle schooler can continue to run track and cross country while a lawsuit over a state ban continues.
There are currently about 15 known transgender high school student-athletes in North Carolina, according to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association. That’s less than one-one thousandth of a percent of the roughly 180,000 student-athletes who participated statewide last year, or about one in every 12,000.
"I can honestly tell you that, to date, there has been little to no adverse impact from these students participating on our program," said NCHSAA Commissioner Que Tucker.
Similar legislation was introduced in 2021, but it never got a vote.
Current N.C. High School Athletic Association rules allow student-athletes who identify as transgender an opportunity to play sports based on their gender identification. However, athletes have to go through a lengthy process that includes submitting a gender identity request form with written statements from the student and others affirming the student's gender identification, information about medications and treatments the student receives, and other information.
A Hiwassee Dam High volleyball player was injured during a game this year when she was struck in the head by a ball by a Highlands High player, who is reportedly transgender. The Hiwassee player suffered a concussion and long-term health impairments, according to lawmakers at Thursday's press conference. The player in question had played four years without incident, according to minutes from a Cherokee County Board of Education meeting in September.
"Before legislators rush out and respond to one case, that's been grossly misrepresented, they should sit down with the community," Equality NC executive director Kendra Johnson told WRAL. "We recently had advocacy day. And we had folks who are introducing this legislation who refuse to sit down with their constituents."
Former UNC women's basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell and former Chapel Hill High volleyball coach Sherry Norris, the state's all-time leader in victories, spoke in favor of the legislation.
"Females having to compete against transgenders is not fair and equal," said Hatchell, who resigned in 2019 amid an investigation after 33 seasons and one national championship at UNC. "Is there a place for transgenders in sports? Yes, there is, but it's a separate category."
The Kansas legislature overrode a veto by the state's Democratic governor on Wednesday to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports from kindergarten to college, according to the Associated Press.
"I believe that people have the right to make the choice about their own bodies," said Rep. Jennifer Balkcom, a Henderson County Republican and a primary sponsor of the legislation. "However, when it begins to impact others adversely, a line needs to be drawn. Transgender participation in middle school and high school sports should be denied. It is not an equal playing field."