SC House votes to join 14 other states with transgender athlete bans on the books
The South Carolina House voted Tuesday night to ban transgender athletes from participating in middle school to college-level sports that do not correspond with their gender at birth.
The vote came after hours of debate that included hundreds of amendments and a tornado warning that sent lawmakers into the basement.
Titled the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” the House voted 82-28 to pass H. 4608 that would require that middle school, high school and college athletes only participate on sports teams that correspond with the gender on their birth certificates.
According to the South Carolina High School League, five trans athletes have applied for waivers to participate in high school sports since 2016. The league has approved only one transgender female high school student to participate and three transgender male high school students.
Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman, who is not running for reelection in 2022, testified last year that the legislation is not needed in South Carolina and will potentially prevent transgender children from feeling protected in school.
A similar proposal failed twice last year, but was pushed this year through another House committee amid a growing national conversation over whether transgender women should be allowed to compete in women’s sports. Fourteen other states, including Alabama, Florida and Mississippi, have passed similar legislation.
“Women deserve to compete on a level playing field,” said state Rep. Ashley Trantham, R-Greenville, the primary sponsor of the bill, who added the bill “ensures women are not forced to play against men on sports teams.”
The bill has been criticized by doctors, LGBTQ advocates and House Democrats who say the legislation is discriminatory and meant to only gain support in a primary election. Lawmakers on Tuesday also voiced concern that passing the bill could hurt the state’s chances at getting NCAA tournaments.
The NCAA withheld events from North Carolina after the former Republican governor there signed a bill into law that 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 That law was eventually repealed.
The NCAA did not hold events in South Carolina until the state removed the Confederate flag from State House grounds after a white supremacist killed nine Black church parishioners in Charleston.
“Has it dawned on you what this bill would do to our chances of hosting regional (tournaments)?” Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said. “Why are you so spiteful toward people who are so different?”
This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 9:24 PM.
