COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – The South Carolina education superintendent made a surprise appearance at a hearing on Wednesday to ask House members not to pass a bill that would prevent transgender students from playing on women’s sports teams in the Elementary and high school.
Within minutes of Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman speaking, a House subcommittee voted 3-1 in favor of the proposal. The bill goes to the entire Judiciary Committee of the Chamber.
Spearman said her responsibility is to ensure that all children feel protected and she believes that “this law does that.”
“I love sports. I know how important athletics is to what we are trying to do in our public schools,” said Spearman, who earlier in the day watched the girls from his hometown, Saluda High School, win the state title.
The superintendent said she supports the South Carolina League of Schools policy of considering any issue individually. The organization has no ban in place and there is no need for intervention by the General Assembly, she said.
“It is a very delicate personal situation,” said Spearman, who is a Republican elected by voters.
If approved, the proposal would require that all South Carolina athletes have to play on teams based on the biological sex listed on their birth certificates. More than a dozen other states are considering similar bills. Idaho approved a proposal, which was suspended in the courts.
The project representative, Rep. Ashley Trantham, said there were still no complaints from transgender students playing on women’s teams, but her intention was to prevent this from happening before it could become a problem.
Proposals in South Carolina and other states emerge as an increasing number of state high school athletic associations in the United States allow transgender athletes to play in teams based on their gender identity, and the NCAA has transinclusive guidelines for all member schools.