A representative in Tennessee introduced a bill that would require student-athletes to play on the sports team of the gender they were assigned at birth.
Tennessee House Bill 1572, also called the Girls Athletic Protection Act, would forbid transgender students from playing sports on a team of their choosing by mandating that all athletes play sports based on their sex. School administrators who tried to sidestep the legislation would face fines up to $10,000 if they helped a transgender student try to participate on a different team.
The legislation would “ensure that student-athletes participate in school-sanctioned sports based on the student’s biological sex as indicated on certificate issued at time of birth.”
Republican Rep. Bruce Griffey, the representative from Paris, Tennessee, who introduced the legislation, argued that the bill was necessary to protect female athletes. He told the Tennessee Star, “We are seeing more and more transgender athletes competing and posting victories in traditionally gendered sports competitions and doing so to the detriment of girls and women biologically born female.”
He added, “Boys and men, due to testosterone levels, bigger bone structure, greater lung capacity, and larger heart size, have physical advantages in sports relative to girls and women.”
Transgender Olympic triathlete Chris Mosier condemned the proposed legislation on Twitter, saying: “Republican lawmaker Bruce Griffey in Tennessee has introduced TN HB 1572, a bill that would prevent trans athletes in schools from playing on teams that match their gender identity. Schools could be fined $10,000 for allowing trans students to play as the correct gender.”
Republican lawmaker Bruce Griffey in Tennessee has introduced TN HB 1572, a bill that would prevent trans athletes in schools from playing on teams that match their gender identity.
Schools could be fined $10,000 for allowing trans students to play as the correct gender.
— The Chris Mosier (@TheChrisMosier) January 4, 2020
The bill has the support of some Republicans in Tennessee, including the backing of State House Speaker Cameron Sexton, who told Fox 13: “Yeah, I think it’s an appropriate bill. I think saying you play based on your birth certificate is a good thing.”
He added: “I think it’s a relatively new issue. I think 20 years ago or 30 years ago when I was in high school, it wasn’t an issue. And so it’s becoming a type of an issue. Rep. Griffey has filed the legislation, and I’m in support of it.”
Griffey argued that the bill is not targeting transgender students, but is designed to protect female student-athletes. “I don’t know that it’s a huge problem in Tennessee right now, but I want to be proactive, so we don’t have a bunch of controversy down the road.”
The International Olympic Committee set guidelines that allow male-to-female athletes to participate in 2015. The committee is working on firmer guidelines for the 2020 games but has yet to settle on a set of rules because of disputes between scientists involved in the ruling.
