COLOMBIA – With nearly half of all U.S. states allowing athletes to participate in elementary and high school sports based on their gender identity, South Carolina is being pressured into a debate about how to set boundaries for its own young competitors. .
Legislation is pending in both chambers of the General Assembly that would limit participation in a sports team to one person’s biological sex – a move that proponents say is necessary to ensure justice for all, but opponents argue that it violates civil rights and removes layers of privacy for an already vulnerable population.
“South Carolina has a proud history of cultivating talented and successful female athletes. For years, we have witnessed our daughters chase their dreams, ”State Representative Ashley Trantham, R-Pelzer, told a House panel during the project’s first hearing on February 23.
“Unfortunately, the next generation of female athletes in South Carolina may not have a chance to excel in these same sports,” she said. “We must act to restore a level playing field for female athletes.”
Trantham is the primary sponsor of the “Save Women’s Sports Act”, which requires athletic teams to allow competitors based only on their biological sex and authorizes legal actions for people who are kept out of a team based on their gender identity. another person.
It applies to all public elementary and secondary schools and any private schools that may compete with them.
Trantham said the issue is to maintain a competitive balance and that his legislation was not designed to violate the rights of trans people.
“’We need to think about how we can be inclusive with our young transgender people,” she told a subcommittee on the House Judiciary. Members were suspended after almost 90 minutes of debate without a vote.
Among those who spoke out against the bill are more than 40 doctors and medical students from all over South Carolina, who signed a letter asking lawmakers to reject the measure.
“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,” they wrote. “When we tell transgender girls that they can’t they play sports for girls – or transgender boys who they cannot play sports for boys – they lose, and being excluded can lead to detrimental results in terms of social and emotional well-being. “
An identical bill sponsored by state senator Richard Cash, R-Anderson, awaits action by the Education Committee.
Several current female athletes and former athletes said that competing with biological men puts them at an inherent disadvantage in sports, including athletics and volleyball, although no examples have been cited of such incidents occurring in South Carolina.
“Female athletes deserve the same opportunity as boys to stand out. Allowing male athletes to destroy those dreams and end up with so many opportunities that we have worked for years to achieve, ”said Selina Soule, a high school runner from Connecticut who said she had lost several runs to transgender opponents. Soule is ready to study at the College of Charleston.
Eli Bundy, a 16-year-old transgender student from Charleston, testified on February 23, 2021, in opposition to a bill that would limit participation in women’s sports by the person’s gender of birth. Provided /Adam Polaski / Southern Equality Campaign
Eli Bundy, a 16-year-old transgender student from Charleston, said the Trantham bill would be emotionally damaging.
“I am disappointed and not surprised that young people like me are being informed by our state legislature that we are not equal to … students (who are not transgender), that we do not deserve equal treatment under the law, and that we are a threat to life and to support other students, ”said Bundy.
“You are trying to solve a problem that does not exist, and in doing so, you are creating a problem instead of fixing it.”
Trantham cited a 2016 memo issued by the SC High School League that allows transgender students to participate in league activities that correspond to their gender identity. Transgender athletes were not mentioned in the league’s 100-page manual, and a SCHSL representative was not immediately available to confirm that such a policy was in place.
Opponents say the bill brings several problems beyond basic justice, including “taking” young transgender people to coaches, colleagues and teachers, requiring disclosure of gender identity without consent.
“The process by which schools identify and separate transgender youth who are entitled to their privacy is unclear,” said Chase Glenn, executive director of the Alliance for Full Acceptance, based in Charleston.
South Carolina is joining 20 other states that have introduced legislation to prohibit transgender athletes from participating in sports based on their gender identity, according to the Center for American Progress.
It is estimated that 167,000 South Carolinaians aged 13 and over are LGBTQ, or about 3% of the general population, reports the ACLU.
Although Trantham introduced the bill in December, his legislative journey begins two months after President Joe Biden issued an executive order prohibiting discrimination in the federal workforce based on a person’s gender identity or sexual orientation.
The order does not define any new guidelines on school sports, but directs government agencies to review existing policies and bring them into line with the mandate.
Preventing transgender people from participating in athletic competitions would likely be considered unconstitutional, said Cathryn Oakley, a lawyer for the Human Rights Campaign.
She said 60 laws across the country have been introduced in the past two years to limit the participation of transgender athletes in sports, and all have been suppressed because of legal challenges or court orders.
“Institutions that are primarily concerned with the integrity of the sport have policies that also allow the inclusion of trans people and have been able to do this so that everyone has equal playing conditions,” she said. “It’s not about boys pretending to be girls.”