South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, signed Senate Bill 46, “an act to protect fairness in women’s sports,” on Thursday, according to a statement shared with the Washington Examiner.
The law mandates that all school sports be classified according to the biological sex of athletes.
“Any interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic team, sport, or athletic event that is sponsored or sanctioned by an accredited school, school district, an activities association or organization, or an institution of higher education under the control of either the Board of Regents or the Board of Technical Education must be designated as one of the following, based on the biological sex at birth of the participating athletes,” the law reads.
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Designations for sports include females, women, or girls; males, men, or boys; or coeducational or mixed, according to the law.
“Only female athletes, based on their biological sex, shall participate in any team, sport, or athletic event designated as being for females, women, or girls,” according to the bill.
Biological sex refers to the sex listed on an athlete’s birth certificate, the law reads.
“This is about fairness. Every young woman deserves an equal playing field where she can achieve success, but common sense tells us that males have an unfair physical advantage over females in athletic competition. It is for those reasons that only girls should be competing in girls’ sports,” Noem said. “Women have fought long and hard for equal athletic opportunities, and South Dakota will defend them, but we have to do it in a smart way.”
Protections and injunctive and/or equitable relief are written into the law to provide consolation to those who are victims of violations of the act.
Noem vetoed a similar piece of legislation last year, but the governor said this new law does not contain the “flawed provisions” the bill from last year had.
“This legislation does not have the problematic provisions that were included in last year’s House Bill 1217,” Noem said. “Those flawed provisions would have led to litigation for our state, as well as for the families of young South Dakota athletes — male and female alike.”
South Dakota’s passage of the act is akin to “discrimination” and “fear-mongering,” according to Human Rights Campaign State Legislative Director and Senior Counsel Cathryn Oakley.
“Sports teach our kids important lessons like discipline, teamwork, responsibility, and work ethic. It is unjust and mean-spirited to shut transgender young people out of the opportunity to play with their friends and learn those lessons,” Oakley said in a statement.
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“Efforts to attack South Dakota’s transgender kids with bills like these date back more than six years, and they are nothing more than an attempt to shrink the space in which transgender kids can exist as their authentic selves. South Dakotans deserve better from their Governor and legislators.”
