Controversial SC trans athletes bill hammered by 1,000 amendments as House debate begins
A staggering 950 to 1,000 amendments proposed for the controversial bill to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports set the stage for what’s expected to be a laborious debate among S.C. House lawmakers, which began Tuesday.
The Save Women’s Sports Act calls for requiring middle school, high school and college athletes to participate on teams that correspond with the gender on their birth certificates.
Lawmakers have proposed between 950 and 1,000 amendments. The House has invoked time limits on debate for each amendment, but the votes on each amendment will still stretch out debate.
“We’re going to be here a long time today,” said state Rep. John King, D-York.
Bill sponsor state Rep. Ashley Trantham, R-Greenville, previously pushed for the legislation twice before this year. However, the House Judiciary Committee killed the legislation each of the previous times.
This year, the bill was brought to the House Education and Public Works Committee, where it was approved and sent to the House floor.
“God created a woman and man,” said state Rep. Melissa Oremus, R-Aiken. “Last time I checked, God does not make mistakes.”
Oremus said allowing transgender women to participate in women’s sports is unfair because biological males are stronger than biological females.
“We’re never going to be just as fast, or just as strong,” Oremus said.
State Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said the legislation could hurt the state’s ability to host regional sports championship events, such as those held by the NCAA. The NCAA withheld events from North Carolina because it had required people in the state to use public bathrooms that matched the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity. That law was eventually repealed.
In the past, the NCAA withheld events from South Carolina until the state removed the Confederate flag from State House grounds.
“Has it dawned on you what this bill would do to our chances of hosting regional (tournaments)?” Cobb-Hunter said. “Why are you so spiteful toward people who are so different?”
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 2:57 PM.
