Va. bill would bar trans student-athletes from teams matching gender identities

The Washington Post / Hannah Natanson, Laura Vozzella

16:26 JST, November 16, 2022

A Virginia legislator has proposed a bill seeking to bar transgender students in K-12 schools and colleges from competing on sports teams that match their gender identities.

The bill, introduced Tuesday by Del. Karen Greenhalgh (R-Va. Beach), says schools and universities must designate each of their club athletic teams or sports as falling into one of three categories “based on biological sex”: teams for male students, teams for female students, and coed or mixed teams that include both male and female students. The bill further stipulates students must submit identification of their “biological sex” on an “athletics eligibility form signed by a licensed physician, a licensed nurse practitioner . . . or physician assistant” to try out for a school sports team.

The proposed legislation, H.B. 1387, is sweeping in scope. It seeks to affect sports at all levels of competition – including “interscholastic, intercollegiate, intramural, or club athletic” teams in both the K-12 and college realms. It attempts to influence private schools, too, prohibiting public schools from competing against private school teams unless the private schools agree to comply with the bill and restrict students to sports teams that match their sex as assigned at birth.

Greenhalgh did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night.

The Virginia bill comes during a tsunami of education laws targeted to transgender students. In the past three academic years, legislators have passed 64 bills that alter how students learn and the rights they have at school, according to an analysis by The Washington Post – and of those laws, 42 percent bar transgender students from playing on sports teams that match their gender identities.

The bill also follows close on the heels of a recent move by the administration of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to severely restrict the rights of transgender students. The Youngkin administration in September proposed guidelines that would limit the rights of transgender students in schools, including requiring them to use the school facilities and sports teams that match their sex assigned at birth. Those policies could take effect this month.

Asked about the bill Tuesday night, a spokeswoman for Youngkin said that “the governor will review the legislation when it comes to his desk.” She did not answer questions on whether this was a bill sought by the administration.