House bill moves forward to bar transgender athletes to compete in sports
Table of Contents
A bill that would ban transgender people from participating in sports based on their gender identity passed 6-4 in a House subcommittee.
HB 1387 was proposed by Del. Karen Greenhalgh, R-Virginia Beach, and would “bill requires identification of the student’s biological sex on an athletics eligibility form signed by a licensed physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant to be submitted by any such student who desires to try out for or participate in an interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team or sport.”
She emphasized that her reason for introducing the bill was to protect biological females’ opportunities to participate in sports fairly.
“Young women should be encouraged to achieve their full potential and to enjoy all the benefits of competition, which was the sole purpose of Title IX,” Greenhalgh said in the Post-Secondary and High Education Subcommittee meeting on Jan. 30. “Similarly gifted and trained males will always have the physical advantage over females, which is the reason we have women’s sports.”
The bill would require that a licensed physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant to sign off on the biological sex of a student for them to compete on any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or other club sports teams from elementary, secondary and higher education..
This differs from a similar bill proposed by Del. Marie March, R-Floyd, HB 1399, which states that biological sex would come down to what is listed originally on the birth certificate. HB 1399 failed because of a lack of motion at the subcommittee meeting on Jan. 30
A Washington Post poll in June 2022 found that 55% of participants oppose allowing transgender girls to participate in high school sports and 58% oppose it for college sports.
Many supporters of the bill emphasized this point as to why they stood behind the bill as a way to defend a safe space for biological women to participate in sports.
Riley Gaines, a former NCAA All-American swimmer at the University of Kentucky, spoke during the public comment section about her experience swimming against Lia Thomas, a transgender female swimmer at the NCAA Division I event in March 2022.
Thomas tied with Gaines for fifth place in the 200 freestyles down to the 100th of a second, but Thomas was to pose with the trophy, Gaines said.
“By allowing Thomas to displace female athletes on the podium, the NCAA intentionally and explicitly discriminate on the basis of sex,” she said.
Opponents of the bill defended transgender athletes’ place in sports of all levels, citing it’s important to build up self-confidence and community.
“I think what these bills [HB 1387 and HB 1399] fail to recognize is the social aspect of sports,” Rowan Adam, a student at the University of Virginia Law school. “Sports gives you friends and a sense of belonging, which is especially important when you’re a kid figuring out who you are and where you need to be.”
Many representatives from pro-LGBTQ+ organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Virginia Trans Activist Network and Equality Virginia, spoke out against the bill.
“We [Side by Side] oppose this bill. Trans students matter,” Drew Newton, Director of Education and Advocacy at Side by Side a pro-LGBTQ+ organization in Virginia.
Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax County, spoke against the bill during the subcommittee meeting, saying there wasn’t much urgency or importance to it.
“Is there a crisis? Is there a sense of urgency to this?” she said. “We are not here to make laws to discriminate against a group of people.”
HB 1387 will move to a full committee on Wednesday.
