Story at a glance
- A Maryland House committee this week voted down a bill that would have prohibited transgender students from playing on sports teams aligning with their gender identity.
- The bill would have also blocked governmental entities, accrediting organizations and athletic associations from taking legal action against schools for separating sports teams by “biological sex.”
- The bill’s defeat in Maryland comes as other states like Indiana and Georgia advance similar legislation. A transgender sports ban has already been signed into law in South Dakota.
A Maryland House committee this week defeated a bill that would have barred transgender students from playing on school sports teams that match their gender identity.
The state House Ways and Means Committee voted down the “Save Women’s Sport’s Act,” introduced in early February by Republican Del. Kathy Szeliga, on Monday. Under the bill, interscholastic or intramural sports teams would have been required to be “expressly designated” based on “biological sex.”
Szeliga, who has served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates since 2011, is also the sponsor of a bill that would require public school educators to publicly release their lesson plans and establish requirements for the “inspection of certain instructional materials.”
America is changing faster than ever! Add Changing America to your Facebook or Twitter feed to stay on top of the news.
Under Szeliga’s “Save Women’s Sports Act,” no governmental entity, accrediting organization or athletic association would have been able to “accept a complaint, investigate, or take any other adverse action against a school or county board for maintaining separate interscholastic or intramural athletic teams or sports for students of the female sex.”
While the bill’s defeat represents a win for transgender rights in Maryland, just a day later, senators in Indiana sent another trans sports ban to the governor’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law.
A similar bill was recently passed by the Georgia Senate in a vote largely along party lines. That bill now heads to the Republican-controlled House, where it is also expected to pass. Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has signaled support for the bill – which would make it illegal for school sports teams with transgender athletes to compete against other schools in the state – and will likely sign it into law should it reach his desk.
In early February, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed the year’s first transgender sports ban into law.
More than 50 bills seeking to prohibit transgender youth from competing in student athletics have been introduced in state legislatures this year, according to Freedom for All Americans.
READ MORE STORIES FROM CHANGING AMERICA
FLORIDA HOUSE PASSES ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
LIA THOMAS SWEEPS IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS, ADVANCES TO NCAA FINALS
AMENDMENT IN FLORIDA BILL TO ‘OUT’ STUDENTS IS WITHDRAWN
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT TO ERASE $415 MILLION IN STUDENT LOAN DEBT FOR NEARLY 16,000 BORROWERS
JUST 20 MINUTES OF DAILY EXERCISE AT 70 COULD STAVE OFF MAJOR HEART DISEASE: STUDY
