Trans female athletes would be banned from high school girls sports under SC proposal

South Carolina lawmakers proposed a bill Wednesday that would require transgender high school athletes to compete on teams with the gender they were assigned at birth — and not the gender they identify with. .

LGBTQ advocates were quick to speak out against the legislation brought forward Wednesday, with South Carolina-based SC Equality saying the policy “creates a dangerous situation for South Carolina’s LGBTQ children, causing them to worry about their safety, wellbeing, and inclusion at school and in the community” in a statement obtained by McClatchy News.

Representatives said the bill, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” is meant to maintain a level playing field for high school girl’s sports in particular by keeping transgender girls out of the game, according to WYFF.

Regardless of how a student identifies, or what steps they have taken toward transitioning, proponents of the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” argue that playing on a girl’s high school team after transitioning from male to female comes with physical advantages that aren’t fair for their other female competitors.

“Hormonal treatment is not going to change somebody’s bone structure,” state Sen. Richard Cash of Anderson County told WYFF. “It’s not gonna allow a young woman to be able to run as fast or jump as high as a young man.”

Jeff Ayers, executive director of SC Equality, pushed back against that argument.

“To date there has been absolutely no evidence that transgender student-athletes in South Carolina pose any serious danger to any sport in which they participate.” said Ayers. “This bill is at its core an attempt to invalidate transgender student identity within our schools. We stand in firm opposition to this bill, and any other proposed law of this type.”

The “Save Women’s Sports Act,” is being pursued in statehouses across the country, and passed through the Arizona House on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports.

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 5:41 PM.