PIERRE, SD – South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) proposed a bill Tuesday that would codify her executive order limiting transgender athletes to competing only in categories matching the sex listed on a student’s birth certificate “issued at or near the time of the athlete’s birth.”
"Only girls should play girls’ sports." —@KristiNoem https://t.co/XezqEOzZyP
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) December 19, 2021
The legislative proposal states that all athletic teams in the state must be based on participants’ biological sex at birth and must be categorized as females, males or coeducational.
The proposal will be considered during the legislative session in January.
The proposed legislative draft states:
“Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, may participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls.
For purposes of this section, biological sex is either female or male as described by the sex listed on the athlete’s official birth certificate issued at or near the time of the athlete’s birth.
The failure to comply with this section is a waiver of sovereign immunity.”
I’m absolutely against gender changes for children and agree with this grade school limitation. Kristi Noem Advances Bill Requiring Trans Athletes to Compete According to Their Birth Gender https://t.co/WqwUiCvcGY via @BreitbartNews
— John BRINKLEY (@PeacefulDefense) December 18, 2021
Lawmakers in more than 20 states have introduced similar bans this year, with Republican governors in several states, including Arkansas, Tennessee, and Mississippi, signing them into law. In all, ten states have passed such legislation.
A previous attempt to pass a similar bill in March in South Dakota stalled after the Governor issued a veto. The veto came as a shock to Republicans and observers, as the Governor expressed excitement at the bill’s passage and her eagerness to sign it in a tweet:
“In South Dakota, we’re celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women’s sports! I’m excited to sign this bill very soon.”
In South Dakota, we're celebrating #InternationalWomensDay by defending women's sports! I'm excited to sign this bill very soon. https://t.co/OU15HOwp2r
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 8, 2021
Shortly after expressing support for the legislation, Gov. Noem issued a “style and form veto” claiming the bill was flawed with technical issues and would not have stood up to a challenge in court.
In an attempt to limit the political fallout from the veto, she issued an executive order requiring high school sports and public university sports programs to allow women to participate in women’s sports only if their birth certificates listed them as female.
The new proposed legislation addresses transgender women and girls, saying:
“Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, may participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls.”
There is no specific mention of transgender boys or men, or those who identify as non-binary.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of South Dakota issued a press release opposing the legislation. The ACLU called the proposed bill an attack on transgender women and girls.
The ACLU also argues that the bill violated the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act. Jett Jonelis, ACLU of South Dakota advocacy manager, said:
“Gov. Noem’s proposed legislation is clearly fueled by a fear and misunderstanding of transgender people in our state.
Gov. Noem says she wants to ‘promote fairness in women’s sports,’ but if that were true, she’d tackle the actual threats to women’s sports such as severe underfunding, lack of media coverage, sexist ideologies that suggest that women and girls are weak, and pay equity for coaches.”
Only girls should play girls’ sports. Given the legislature’s failure to accept my proposed revisions to HB 1217, I am immediately signing two executive orders to address this issue: one to protect fairness in K-12 athletics, and another to do so in college athletics. (1/3)
— Governor Kristi Noem (@govkristinoem) March 29, 2021
In a statement, Gov. Noem said that her proposed legislation would codify the protections she ordered to create “an equal playing field for girls and women:
“Common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition.”
If passed, the bill would give student athletes the ability to sue for injunctive relief against any governing body, including schools, school districts or athletic associations, if they claim to suffer harm from violation of the law.
The bill would also allow students to seek further relief if they face retaliation after filing for initial relief.
![LET Unity]()
Texas fights back: legislators introduce bills which would ban biological males from women’s sports
February 2, 2021
AUSTIN, TX- A proposed new law introduced in Texas would prevent biological males from participating in sporting events against females, an apparent direct shot at Joe Biden’s executive order signed two weeks ago which unraveled President Trump’s ban on the practice.
According to the Washington Examiner, the bill, introduced by Rep. Valoree Swanson would block transgender women from competing in sports against biological females at public schools, and higher education institutions, as reported in the Texas Tribune.
The law would apply to K-12 schools, colleges and universities and would apply to single-sex sports teams designated for girls and women.
The bill is similar to other filed across the U.S., which are designed to ensure fairness in women’s sports. Last year, Idaho passed a law called the “Fairness in Women’s sports Act.” A similar bill in Montana, “Save Women’s Sports Act” was advanced to that state’s Senate this week.
The American Civil Liberties Union says that nine other states have similar bills moving through their respective legislative processes this year, including Mississippi, Connecticut and Tennessee. Equality Texas notes that more states are also in the process of filing bills this year which would advance the requirements to colleges as well.
According to Swanson, she says:
“This bill is a commonsense measure that is sadly necessary in a world where male athletes are robbing women of both championship trophies and educational opportunities.”
Critics of the bill claim that transgender individuals are subject to unfair discrimination.
“This is bathroom bill 3.0,” said Angela Hale, senior adviser at Equality Texas, addressing the push to keep transgender athletes out of women’s sports.
“It’s very unsettling to transgender children who just want to live. They don’t want to have to come down to the Capitol and testify every single legislative session just so that they can live and go about their daily lives.”
Currently, the University Interscholastic League (UIL) of Texas relies on students’ birth certificates to determine whether they participate in men’s or women’s athletics. However the UIL recognizes changes made to birth certificates which alter their gender marker, Breitbart said.
The Tribune said that most universities in Texas follow NCAA rules, which allow students to compete in sports not according to their biological sex but rather based on their gender identity.
“LGBTQ advocates said conservatives across the country are latching onto issues related to athletics and health care as the latest way to spread fear about transgender children using inaccurate information, despite opposition from medical and athletic associations,” the Tribune said, referring to earlier legislation which failed that would have made bathrooms designated for people based on their biological sex.
A second bill was introduced by Texas Sen. Charles Perry, which would require student-athletes to adhere to the gender on their birth certificate when playing competitive sports.
“This is purely 100% devoted to the preservation of Title IX and allowing women to compete against women in their peer groups in that biological category, so they know they can have an equal and fighting chance based on ability and not over some political narrative of the day that undermines fairness,” Perry said.
Yet another bill filed in the Lonestar State would protect minors from taking life altering medications, such as puberty blockers and reassignment surgery.
The bill would prevent medical professionals from “performing a surgery that sterilizes the child, including castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, oophorectomy, metoidioplasty, orchiectomy, penectomy, phalloplasty, and vaginoplasty, or performing a mastectomy.
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