South Dakota introduce legislation banning trans children from school sports with teammates of the gender they identify
Senator Jim Bolin claims the legislation is 'all about fair competition'
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
South Dakota Senate have introduced new legislation banning transgender children from participating in school sports with teammates of the gender that they identify.
On Monday (January 14), the new bill was introduced and states that a student’s sex should be determined by their birth certificate or a South Dakota High School Activities Association physical exam form.
Republican Senator Jim Bolin claimed the legislation was “all about fair competition” and told the Sioux Falls City Argus Leader: “I just firmly believe that those who are males should play in sports designated for males and those who are females… Should play in sports designated for females, according to your birth certificate.
“It’s about fair competition, and we’re not breaking any new ground.
“This has nothing to do with bathrooms, locker rooms or shower rooms. This has only to do with the eligibility for athletic competition.”
The new legislation has been met with criticism with ACLU policy director Libby Skarin calling it another attempt to “single transgender students out for discrimination”.
Introducing the new bill would make South Dakota “the first and only state in which the state legislature intervened to override a policy put in place by the association that knows high school activities the best”.