SC bill could stop trans girls from competing in women’s sports

South Carolina lawmakers began discussing a bill Tuesday that would effectively ban transgender girls in high school and middle school from competing in women’s sports.

The bill, H. 3477 or the “Save women’s sports act,” would require public middle schools and high schools to designate interscholastic or intramural teams as “men’s,” “women’s” or “co-ed” leagues. The bill would then would only allow those born biologically female to play in women’s sports.

The bill would also apply to private schools that compete athletically against public schools.

A similar bill, S. 531, was introduced in the Senate. It’s still in committee as well.

Lawmakers ran out of time to vote on the bill Tuesday and will take it up again in subcommittee at a later date.

A similar piece of legislation was passed in Idaho last year, but it was soon blocked in court by a federal judge.

“The State has not identified a legitimate interest served by the Act that the preexisting rules in Idaho did not already address, other than an invalid interest of excluding transgender women and girls from women’s sports entirely, regardless of their physiological characteristics,” Judge David Nye wrote in his opinion.

Proponents of the bill argue that trans women have an unfair physiological advantage over their cisgender counterparts. Cisgender means a person’s gender identity corresponds with their birth sex.

“South Carolina has a proud history of cultivating talented and successful female athletes,” bill sponsor Rep. Ashley Trantham, R-Greenville, said.

“Unfortunately, the next generation of female athletes in South Carolina may not have those same chances to excel at sports,” Trantham added.

The South Carolina High School League currently allows trans athletes to compete in sports teams aligned with the gender they identify with. Trantham called it an “unfair policy.”

“This harmful policy would steal opportunity and shatter dreams of women,” Trantham said.

Tony Beam, the public policy director of the South Carolina Baptist Convention, testified against the bill, saying it could also cause privacy issues when it comes to team locker rooms and travel accommodations.

“I think that privacy is important,” Beam said. “I think the intimate spaces of locker rooms and bathrooms are a place that biological males and females have separate space for their safety and their privacy.”

Before the subcommittee meeting began Tuesday, the bill had critics.

SC United for Justice & Equality, a coalition of more than 30 LGBTQ advocates and allies across the state, issued a statement last week calling the piece of legislation “a bill that cruelly targets transgender youth and that distracts from essential issues the legislature should be focused on.”

“Even as South Carolina continues to grapple with the devastating impacts of the pandemic, some lawmakers are instead prioritizing legislation that targets transgender youth for exclusion after a year that has already been especially isolating for young people,” the statement read.

“Every student should be able to access the opportunities and lessons of school athletics,” the statement continued. “To categorically deny transgender students the freedom to play alongside their peers is completely at odds with lawmakers’ duties to care for and protect our youth.”

SC United for Justice & Equality vowed to fight the bill throughout the legislative process.

“Should this bill be allowed to pass, it would harm transgender youth, send a disturbingly clear message that South Carolina prioritizes discrimination over inclusion, and open the state to potential lawsuits,” the statement read.

More than 40 medical professional also signed a letter issued Tuesday morning in opposition to the bill.

“Participation in athletics is a vital part of students’ well-being, including their physical, social, and emotional health; involvement in student sports provides young people with lessons about leadership, self-discipline, success, and failure,” the letter read. “Transgender students, like other students, deserve the same chances to learn teamwork, sportsmanship, leadership and self discipline, and to build a sense of belonging with their peers. When we tell transgender girls that they can’t play girls’ sports – or transgender boys that they can’t play boys’ sports – they miss out, and being excluded can lead to harmful outcomes with regard to social and emotional well being.”

In the letter, doctors also worried that the bill could inadvertently forcibly “out” transgender individuals to their classmates before they’re ready to share their gender identity on their own terms.

During the subcommittee meeting, other opponents of the bill spoke out, making up the majority of speakers Tuesday afternoon.

Elizabeth Mack, a pediatric doctor and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, called the bill and the possibility that it could forcibly out transgender students “an invasion of privacy and developmentally devastating.”

“This bill says to our trans youth, not just those interested in sports … we do not support you,” Mack said.

Chase Glenn, the executive director of Alliance for Full Acceptance, a Charleston-based LGBTQ advocacy group, called the bill “unnecessary,” “uninformed” and “dangerous.”

“Bills like 3477 but a target on innocent trans youth who are just trying to live their lives and puts them at a greater risk of harm,” Glenn said.

Glenn pointed out that trans identifying youth have higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts than their cisgender peers.

“Please do the right thing and vote against this bill,” Glenn added.