SB 46 passed the Senate State Affairs Committee on Friday with almost-collective aid on an 8-1 vote. Sen. Troy Heinert, the only Democrat on the committee, was the only one to vote against it. The bill will now proceed to the Senate floor.
Noem published an ad Wednesday saying that "only girls play girls sports" in South Dakota. The ad also claims her suggested bill will give the state "the strongest law in the nation protecting female sports." The committee presented the bill at the governor's request.
Noem, viewed by many as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, presented SB 46 on Dec. 14, 2021, saying in a press release that it was about "fairness." She previously published a "style and form veto" last year to an identical bill that would have banned biological males from contesting in women's athletics, mentioning the potential for opposition and litigation by the NCAA. That decision received backlash from her fellow Republicans, who control both chambers of the state Legislature.
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Critics of such legislation targeting transgender athletes assert it is harmful to transgender people. "Passage of this bill would directly hurt children," Jennifer Phalen, a mother of a transgender daughter who wants to participate in school gymnastics, told the committee, according to the Associated Press. "It would directly hurt my daughter and take away her freedom to participate in activities with her peers."
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“Allowing males to compete destroys fair competition and athletic opportunities for girls,” Rachel Oglesby, the governor’s policy advisor, told the committee. “Similarly gifted and trained males will always have physical advantages over females.”
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The high school activities association asserted that it already has a policy in place that ensures fair competition. The schools evaluate applications from transgender athletes on a case-by-case basis and have only once allowed a trans girl to play in a girls’ league. She did not spoil the competition, the athletics association has said.
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Transgender athletes competing in women's sports have become famous in recent weeks, after transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, a member of the University of Pennsylvania's women's team, broke several women's distance freestyle records. An anonymous female swimmer on Thomas's team said it is hard for her to respect Thomas "because of what she's doing to my team and what she's doing to women in general and not caring."
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Some Republican-led states have banned transgender female athletes from competing in women's sports. Florida. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill in June 2021 that he said shows his state was focused on "fairness and integrity" in athletic programs.
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