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A proposed bill in the State House would, if made law, prohibit transgender females from competing in women’s sports.
House Bill 466, the “Save Women’s Sports Act,” was prefiled last Friday, February 28. Its authors are Beryl Amedee, Larry Frieman, Mike Johnson, and Danny McCormick.
“It only affects those sports where we have designated teams – male and female,” said Beryl Amedee, Republican, State Representative for district 51. “This is not going to affect the school chess team, this will affect the school track team.”
The bill argues that individuals born as biological males have inherent advantages against their female counterparts, even if they are in the process of, or have completed, transitioning. As such those having transitioned, or in the midst of it, should not be allowed to compete with biological females.
The restrictions would not apply to transgender individuals competing in male sporting events.
It leans on the U.S. Supreme Court case from 1996, United States v. Virginia, et al, 518 U.S. 515, 533, as the basis for acknowledging, “‘[i]nherent differences’ between men and women.” Then expands this by identifying which differences lead to unfair advantages in sports.
If passed into law, said Amedee, only biological females would be allowed to compete against one another at all levels of education.
“The purpose of the bill is to specify that only females will play on girl’s teams,” said Amedee. “This will apply for elementary, secondary, and college sports.”
This would also apply to private schools, but only if the schools accept state tax dollars.
These rulings could be implemented by athletic organizations/institutions, said Amedee, but this bill would avoid costly court battles.
“The athletic associations could, but if the government would actually put this into statute, then it can save athletic associations a whole lot of court battles that are going to be costly and take up time,” Amedee stated. “It’s to keep the athletics fair.”
She said the private sector, such as the NFL, can take care of themselves, but the State is responsible for education.
To read the full bill, click here: https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillDocs.aspx?i=238182&t=text
